Fate
by TheBattleQueen
Summary: It's been decades since the disastrous wedding that put Elena Gilbert in a magical coma, killed the entire gemini coven along with Alaric's wife and babies. Now Caroline finds herself settled down making a life for herself away from the tragedies of Mystic Falls, but somehow she's always pulled back in...maybe it's just Fate. (KLAROLINE!)
1. Chapter 1

**Fate**

 **Chapter One - Decades Later**

Almost two decades have passed since Caroline Forbes set foot in Mystic Falls Virginia. Even more time has passed since she's seen the inside of the place she and her mother once called home. Over the last 20 years many places have been called home to her carefree spirit; Rome, Paris, Tokyo, and many more exotic places. Her feet finally settling to a halt in Tel Aviv Israel some 12 years ago, after she and Stefan parted ways her connections were cut with what little friends and family she had left in her small hometown. Bonnie wrote an email occasionally when she wasn't busy with her two kids, teaching job, and a doting husband. Damon hadn't said two words to her since the split with Stefan, and since Elena was the only other person tying him to her he didn't see the need to get involved now. Alaric retreated to the woods to fish, drink, and mourn the loss of his wife and babies after their disastrous wedding. Which left Caroline alone to her devices, free to wander the world as she pleases - or stay where she wants.

That's exactly what she did 12 years ago when her flight delayed in Tel Aviv, and instead of getting back on the plane a few hours later she remained in Israel touring the cities and enjoying the culture. It must've grown on her quickly because she never left - except for when Bonnie got married of course. The supernatural community there surprised her like nothing she'd ever known before. Walking the streets in midday she spotted dozens of vampires, witches, and a few beings she'd never heard of.

A few years went by as Caroline lived a quiet life under the calculating rule of Cyrus the vampire king of the city. But everyone's reign comes to an end someday, and that included Cyrus. When he murdered Caroline's friend for attempting to take out half of the vampire lackies loyal to Cyrus, the blonde baby vampire knew she had to do something to stop him. Which is exactly what happened, and somehow Caroline Forbes - small town girl, baby vampire - turned into the Queen of the supernatural community in Tel Aviv. She isn't little Caroline anymore, and the world wasn't ready for the queen in her to rise...

"Rise and shine queenie," the cheerful voice of Ethan. A young vampire who'd become quite close to the blonde over the years. Every morning his routine was relatively the same. He entered Caroline's room at 7:00 am sharp to fling open her curtains and hand her a warm mug of blood and go over what business was being attended to that day. Today was like every other day. She still groaned as the light hit her face causing her eyes to crack open slowly, and her mind awakened at the smell of her blood filled mug being set down beside her bed.

"Ethan, do you think just one day we could start the day at maybe 10? Then everyone around here could get more sleep." Caroline's voice is filled with amusement as she looks up at him while taking a sip from her cup.

"If we did that I'm afraid you would miss the wonderful welcome home to all of our nightwalkers." He pulls the covers back on her bed motioning for the blonde to get up, "let's go Care bear. No time like the present to get moving."

"You're way too cheerful in the mornings," she mutters under her breath as she retreats to her closet in search of clothes for the day.

Caroline Forbes was never a diplomat, but calculating what's in her communities best interest is something she's become accustomed to over the last decade. Today is no different as she sits at the long conference table with each faction leader seated in a fancy chair - all of them yelling over each other. As their voices rise higher her blue-green eyes dart around the room. She looks to Ethan who gives her a thumbs up of support from the corner, and then to the various creatures seated before her. The wolves alpha, the witches regent, the elder of the gypsies, and the most well rounded vampire she could find to lead that faction.

"Enough!" Her voice booms off the walls of the room causing everyone to turn to her. Their arguments halt as the queen they know her to be stands to her feet, glaring at each member of the table. "The witches will proceed with their festivities, and we will ensure the wolves stay out of the inner city as well as keeping the vampires away from your community those two days. As far as the wolves feelings unsafe in the city, all I can say towards that is it's only a feeling. Until someone or something acts on whatever is causing the uneasiness there's nothing we can do."

A short rise of protest from a few at the table is cut off as Caroline raises her hand silencing them all. "That is my final decision, you can either deal with it and co-exist like we've all done for the last decade. Or you can face my wrath, and I assure you do not want to tempt my fury." In an instant the queen of the city leaves the room, all that remains in the room are the stunned faces of the faction leaders as they look to each other. Daring one of them to test Caroline Forbes.

Her frustration had gained the better of her and she releases a harsh groan slumping against the wall near her private office quarters. Queen she may be, but Caroline Forbes was just as susceptible to the highs and lows of irritation. The faction leaders had recently grown restless with the chaos erupting in the Middle East from the several political parties and terror groups on the rise. Many worried for their families sake whilst others were only concerned for their loss of power if tensions rose any higher.

Slouching into her comfy desk chair, the blonde closes her eyes for a few brief moments attempting to relax - but failing miserably. "Guess desperate times call for desperate measures," she states as she opens the bottom desk drawer that houses a lone bottle of bourbon she'd stolen from the Salvatore home just before departing from Mystic Falls for the last time.

"You're bringing out the bourbon? Must've really been a rough day...and it's only one o'clock." Ethan walks into the office quickly and quietly shutting the door behind him and locking it with no effort. "You're going to want to take that as a shot right about now Cara." Her brows scrunch in confusion, but he quickly pulls out a small wrapped gift box from his stack of inventory. "This was just delivered to the front gate with your name on it."

Sighing, she takes the box from Ethan. "No 'return to sender' card on it?" Caroline examines the box and quickly gulps down her glass of bourbon. Gently pulling at the ribbon encasing the small box, she opens it to find a single finger. "Ethan, I'm going to need you to find out which one of our day walkers hasn't checked in."

"Why? Is there another heart in the box?"

"No a finger this time, but it's one with a daylight ring attached to it. This guy is killing members of the vampire faction, but how long before his interest switches to the other factions? The humans? They're innocents."

"So are you Caroline, this creep has been delivering strange gifts for almost 2 years now. What could you have possibly done to earn this from someone?"

A pregnant pause takes over the room as Caroline stares down at the single finger in the box. Wondering who she would discover as the missing vampire. "Do you think he knows? Maybe this is why...I just wish we knew what the freak wants. Then possibly someway we could put a stop to this."

"No one knows about that. We made sure every living supernatural that knew of what you could do was either compelled, killed, or sent away to live somewhere with no cell reception." Ethan places a soft hand on her shoulder as he too stares into the box contemplating telling her the other news he had. Finally he sighs, "there's more."

Her wide eyes meet his with curiosity and discontempt. Needing but not wanting to know more. "What else could possibly ruin my day?"

The vampire slowly removes a card from his coat pocket and places it on her desk. "This was delivered last week, and I know I shouldn't have kept it from you for this long. It's just you were so sad for so long and I didn't know how to tell you this with everything going on."

"Could you please leave the office for a bit. I need a moment alone Ethan." His words stops as her soft voice enters the room, barely above a whisper as her eyes continue to burn into the card placed neatly between her fingers. Nodding his head, Ethan steps out the side door of the office making sure the blonde wasn't disturbed in this moment.

The card held gently, yet firm, in her hands was sent from Mystic Falls by Tyler Lockwood. "You are cordially invited to the wedding of Rebekah Mikaelson and Stefan Salvatore," she scoffs setting the invitation on her desk letting the emotions hit her in waves. No way was she ever stepping foot into Stefan Salvatore's life again.

The warm breeze of New Orleans blew through the curtains of the small balcony in the Compound. Rebekah Mikaelson lay beside her soon to be husband, Stefan Salvatore. Exhaling quietly she rolls to her side taking the moment of serenity to go over the days details of preparation. "It's early Rebekah, go back to sleep." Stefan mumbles as he readjusts in the bed to maintain maximum comfort.

"Our wedding is 2 weeks away Stefan, how can I go back to sleep when we have so much to do?" Propping herself up on her elbow, she stares down her fiance with determination. "What if we got up now, did some wedding planning. Like you taking the groomsmen out to be fitted for their suits?"

"Is this your way of forcing Klaus and I to bond? Because I highly doubt that will ever happen," Stefan pauses leaning over to place a hand on her cheek. "I could be persuaded though if our morning routine included a nice hot shower."

Rebekah smiles at him sitting up with the sheet wrapped around her body, "well your wish is my command Mr. Salvatore." The two proceed to move lazily around their room for half the morning, enjoying each other's presence as long as possible.

Downstairs at the breakfast table Hope Mikaelson groans as she shoves her headphones further into her ears. "Aunt Rebekah does realize that most of us can hear them right?"

"Sweetheart your aunt has been around this family for a thousand years, she certainly knows we can hear her. She just doesn't care too much anymore if we hear or don't." Klaus states as he walks into the kitchen places a soft peck on his daughter's head before sitting down beside Elijah who merely nods in acknowledgment.

"I'd very much like to not hear anything right now, could I move rooms to the opposite side of the house please," Kol flops down into a chair beside Hope proceeding to steal her bowl of cereal and dig in. "Why do you not put sugar in these little one?"

"Well for one if you move to the opposite side of the house, you and Davina will be just as loud just closer to me." Hope smirks as she takes her bowl of cereal back from her uncle with a delighted look in her eyes. "Secondly, sugar in cheerios doesn't taste as good when they've already got honey to them. And third I think our wedding gift to Rebekah should be a lot of sage to burn in their room."

"Or perhaps a new home on the other side of the Quarter?" Kol chuckles as his little sister's voice is heard from upstairs claiming she heard every word of what they're discussing.

The room is light and filled with laughter in the morning as the entire Mikaelson family gathers around the breakfast table. "This is nice," Hope says looking around at all of her uncles and aunts. "It's been a while since we've had all of us together here, and I know some of you will take off after the wedding but it's still nice having you all here."

Rebekah takes her nieces hand and gives it a light squeeze. "I'm sure in a thousand years you will understand too why all of us living under the same roof for extended periods of time can be quite insufferable."

"To my intolerable, annoyingly ever-present siblings." Kol raises a glass of orange juice in a mock toast as everyone else follows suit.

"To always and forever," Klaus adds as everyone nods in agreement taking sips of their various morning drinks.

A few hours later the wedding preparations for the day were in full swing. Rebekah had taken her niece and sister captive to go over music selections, catering options, and seating charts. While Stefan was forced to go try on suits with the Mikaelson brothers. As the four men stand around in the shop being waited on and brought champagne, a familiar face walks in.

"Tyler Lockwood," the original hybrid's voice sounds first bringing everyone's attention to the werewolf standing at the door.

Stefan immediately jumps into action before a fight broke out in the middle of the store, "I invited him to the wedding so let's all play nice shall we?"

"I went to look for you guys at your place, but Rebekah said I could find you here instead. I figured this was better than arranging seating charts based on status and likeability." Tyler nods awkwardly as he shoves his hands in his pockets. "Look I'm just gonna clear the air here because I'll be around for 2 weeks, we might as well get along. I have no intentions or ulterior motives of harming you or your family as long as you have no plans of doing the same to me."

The werewolf extends his hand to Klaus to shake it and slowly but surely the pair join hands. A sigh of relief comes from Stefan and surprisingly Elijah as well as the tension is released from the room. "Well then, let's try on some suits so my future wife doesn't scream at me for not getting anything done today."

After half an hour Stefan, Tyler, and Kol had found their suits and they were tailored to perfection. The three men now sat on the couch watching Klaus delay trying on anything and Elijah nitpicking every detail of the suits he tried on. "My socks have better quality than this jacket, I asked for the finest suit you have not the best thing a grocery store could sell." Chuckles are heard from the men as Elijah shoo's off the tailor helping them out in search for something that would meet Elijah Mikaelson's standards.

"Now that the dust is settled Stefan, there's something I should probably tell you." Silence comes from the chatting Mikaelson brothers as their attention focuses on the conversation about to take place. "Remember when you extended the whole 'plus one' thing to Damon and I since we wouldn't have anyone to really go with?"

Stefan's brows scrunch together in confusion as he looks to Tyler, "who did Damon invite? Please tell me some trashy Krystal with a 'K' isn't going to show up to my wedding."

"No, no, no! Damon is actually coming with Alaric from what he told me last. This is about my plus one, and I just didn't want you to be shocked on your wedding day by it." The room hangs in a bated breath waiting for Tyler to gather the nerve to announce her name to the two men in the room who shared a profound connection to her. "I invited Caroline."

Moments pass as the room stands in total silence. A pin could be heard dropping the quiet was so encompassing. "You did what?" Stefan asks looking from Tyler to Klaus who merely stood with as blank an expression as possible. "How did you even know where to send the invitation? No one has seen or heard from Caroline in almost a decade," Stefan ponders over the idea of seeing his once lover/best friend again after all this time has passed. Seeing her at his wedding made the event seem more dramatic than it could have been if they'd merely crossed paths years later.

"I don't know if she'll even come since typically she has a lot on her plate." Tyler sighs before continuing with his explanation, not knowing whether he was explaining this for Stefan or Klaus. "Caroline have kept in touch over the years, she asked me to not tell anyone that I had ways to talk to her. It's been 12 years almost and she still hasn't said a word about where she even lives. Everytime we talk she's very careful about what I can hear in the background…"

"Is there any way that you could talk to her before the wedding? Find out if she's getting on a plane to come here, or even if she's doing alright." Klaus speaks up for the first time since her name had been mentioned. His mind is flooding with so many memories and emotions he doesn't know how to keep up. Recalling the last time he'd seen her in the woods all those years ago, the time they'd spent together that'd caused him to draw the scene from memory in his sleepless nights.

Tyler runs his fingers through his slightly longer hair and looks up at the vampires around him, "I might be able to, we just spoke a few days ago so if I called now she might be suspicious of something. She must've gotten my invite by now...I sent it out almost a month ago."

"And you're just now mentioning this?" Kol states as he chuckles looking to his brother spotting the inner turmoil from a mile away. "Maybe now Nik can get the stick out of his arse when the pretty blonde comes to town."

"No, no way. Caroline has been through enough the past decade, she doesn't need to get involved in the Mikaelson food chain." Tyler's defense of the blonde vampire raises the curiosity of the rest of the men, but surprisingly they don't question him further. Now part of him just had to hope she didn't show up to get involved in Mikaelson business again.

Caroline had spent the last half hour walking the streets of the Tel Aviv market. She passed many sights, smells, and sounds but none of them registered. Her thoughts focused on one singular problem - to go or not to go to Stefan's wedding. Wandering the streets did nothing for her swarming questions though. Every corner she turns seeing a couple in love huddled up exploring the scenery of the marketplace.

Finally after the sun had begun to fade from the sky, Caroline finds herself standing back at the gates to the estate. She looks up at the small castle-like features. The light clay toned bricks showing the age of the building, but it still held the character to match any modern skyscraper in the area. The gates slowly open allowing the blonde vampire to enter the private grounds that belonged to the vampires of the community.

What no one knew about the city or the old castle sitting on the outskirts of the historic section, is that the nightwalkers had extensive tunnels to roam through. Tunnels that ran throughout the city to different places and locations, and no one would know the difference. Caroline knew of course, she knew every nightwalker that stepped into and out of the tunnels, and no one got past her security when it came to the secret passageways.

She walks into the main hallway peering up at the high ceilings with old chandeliers hanging from them. The queen can almost remember the day she walked through these very doors for the first time, looking at the building in wonder not knowing 5 years later it would become her own home. Her own castle to rule from, 'if only mom could see me now;' she thinks to herself picturing Liz Forbes patting the younger Forbes on the back for the good she's done for the people of the city.

"Caroline, there's a phone call for you." Ethan comes skidding to a halt in front of the blonde who seemed to be in a daze looking at the very room she re-decorated half a decade ago. "It's Tyler. I'm assuming you want to take this call in your room where it's more private."

"Did he hear you answer?" Her blue eyes search his wide ones knowing the answer immediately, "well I guess I'll have some explaining to do as to why you answered for me. Oh well, but yes I'll be in my room. Get me some sage please," she quickly departs from the conversation looking around the foyer for anyone that had been keenly listening to their conversation. Seeing no one, she quickly retreats up the stairs that lead to her private side of the home.

No one came to this area of the estate, and Caroline liked it that way. It was quiet, but not so quiet that she didn't get to be the bubbly girl she once was so many years ago. "Hey Tyler, I thought we talked the other day. Is everything okay back in Mystic Falls?" Caroline probes him for answers, immediately suspicious as to why he called her out of their regularly scheduled routine.

"I just wanted to make sure you got my invite, and this is me trying to convince you to come to the wedding." She can practically hear the way his face scrunches up waiting for her response that would end with a lecture as to why he shouldn't meddle with her life.

"You know I can't go Tyler. It's been over a decade since Stefan and I have even spoken...I just can't face him. Plus he's marrying Rebekah Mikaelson who by the way happens to be Klaus' little sister, so I think I will pass on the drama that is very likely to happen there. There's enough going on here as it is," Caroline pauses before she divulges too much about where she's been staying the past several years.

A sigh comes from the other line as Tyler takes what seems to be defeat. "Damon and Alaric are coming, and Bonnie plans to be there with Graham. You haven't seen them since her wedding 10 years ago. We just miss you Care, I miss you. Think about it ok, I've gotta go...I'll talk to you soon." With that the line ends and Caroline is left standing alone in her room pondering if seeing her former lover/best friend and proclaimed 'last love' in the same room at the same time after decades apart would be too complicated.

"You should go," Ethan stands against the doorframe looking at the confused look on her face. "We can manage things here long enough for you to go to New Orleans for a few days. It's not like we're at war here Caroline. It's high time you got a getaway from this place."

"I can't just leave you and the faction leaders. We're still debating over some issues after the last full moon, and the nightwalkers are getting restless with all tourists coming in for the summer. Now is just...not the time to be leaving."

"And next year when Bonnie has another kid or Tyler finally finds a woman, it won't be the right time to leave for that either. It will never be time to go on an adventure, which is exactly why I am packing your bags right now. You are getting a flight home to Mystic Falls to spend quality time with Bonnie and then the two of you will head to good old New Orleans together for the wedding." Ethan places his hands on the side of Caroline's arms as he speaks, but the friendly moment quickly ends as he rushes around the room to find her suitcases.

The vampire immediately begins throwing clothes and other items into piles on the bed. Each pile organized by weather, priority, and various other categories. "Ethan, the wedding isn't for another two weeks. I can pack later since you're so insistent on my leaving. If I didn't know any better I'd say you and Tyler conspired to get me out of the city."

He pauses to laugh both knowing the two men didn't know of each other's existence. "Weirdly I noticed he didn't ask about why I answered your phone. You've kept your whereabouts locked up right?"

"Of course, no one from my past knows where I've been the past decade. I have a P.O. box in France that still gets mail from people like Tyler, but I compelled the people to forward all that stuff here. My tracks are thoroughly covered Ethan, no need to worry about that."

"It's not you I'm worried about, it's your friends. If they discovered where you are we both know they would all come here. When people come here they learn about your mysterious abilities, and then the whole world knows…"

He trails off waiting for the vampire queen to carry on his statement. "If the world knows they can find a way to put me down. That is exactly why, my trusted friend, you are the only one to know about my special gifts."

Tyler sits back on the couch in the Mikaelson compound, the rest of the men eyeballing the werewolf and original hybrid simultaneously. The air in the room is tense, as they all release the bated breath they'd been holding whilst Tyler was on the phone with Caroline Forbes. "Well I did my best, and I assure that was my best when it comes to Care." He stands to his feet and leaves the room, finally they hear the sound of the wolf exiting the compound altogether.

"Nik you ok?" Kol questions as he whistles mockingly while waving a hand in front of his stoic brother's face. He chuckles when Klaus smacks his younger siblings hand away.

"I'm fine," pausing he listens to the surroundings in the house. "Where's my daughter?" Klaus turns to Elijah for the answer, but finds none there.

Rebekah enters the room moving to wrap her arms around her Salvatore fiance, "I believe she and Freya left this morning after breakfast to see Vincent. Something about special effects for the wedding." The female original smiles at her elder brothers, "now if you will excuse us, Stefan and I have wedding details to attend to." Rebekah grasps him by his hand, dragging the Salvatore from the sitting room.

Shortly after Elijah departs claiming a need to find Hayley for whatever reason. Leaving Klaus to his own devices as he pours a drink, and sits down slowly into the leather chair. Her voice hadn't changed a bit, but in a strange way it had. The sound still recognizable after almost two decades, but the maturity he knew she'd gain appeared there. So much time had passed since he'd seen her last; time that he once believed to be nothing but a blink of an eye.

In Klaus Mikaelson's millenia on the earth he'd done countless terrible things, and some even to Caroline and her friends. The one thing that hadn't changed though, was that even at the sound of her voice she had a way of mesmerizing him. It was unexplainable...and his mind drifted to their times together. From their mutual distaste for the other. To his mother's ball, the high school dances, her honesty that rose from every word spoken to him. Her graduation when he proclaimed that he truly intended to be her 'last love,' and then that glorious day in the woods when she finally allowed herself to admit she felt something for him. That woman still had a hold on him after all this time, and he had no clue what to do if the day came when he sees her again.

Of all the Mikaelson's, Hope and Freya spent the most time together over the last decade. The two grew closer over their mutual bond of magic; teaching and learning together. Freya taught her niece in her younger years about the basics of magic, and as Hope grew into the young woman she is today they taught each other. Occasionally, Davina would come to visit New Orleans and join them for a while. The duo both knew the young witch missed practicing, but leaving New Orleans was the best possible decision for her and Kol once they were reunited.

"I had another dream again last night," Hope speaks up as her aunt mixes various ingredients into a bowl. The elder Mikaelson looks up at her niece who sits on a single bar stool staring at the empty space of the tomb they sat in. "This time I saw the woman's face more clearly, she had blonde hair...kinda like aunt Rebekah's; but more curly and shorter. Her eyes were a dark blue almost green shade, but they turned almost cloudy with smoke at one point."

Freya pauses her movements to look at Hope, "did her hands do that as well?"

"Yeah they did, but instead of white smoke it was black this time and these black veins crawled up her arms as the smoke came out…" Hope's voice trails off as she tries to retell the dream from memory. "Maybe if we linked consciousness whilst we slept I could have another vision of the woman and we could figure why I'm seeing her."

Her aunt shakes her head, "if you're seeing these visions they must be meant for you. I have a feeling that if I interfered with our minds to view them that we wouldn't see what we need to. If that makes sense," Freya pauses and quickly returns to the potion she was previously mixing. "Drink this, it should cause you to be able to recall everything in detail from the dreams. That's if it does what it's supposed to."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough who she is," Hope states as she takes the bowl from her aunt and downs the potion in one gulp. "Well that was disgusting...and of course I'm late to meet my mom." She jumps off the stool, grabbing her bag and retreats from the cemetery heading in the direction of the Mikaelson Compound. Ready to face the questions from her mom as to where she's been all morning.

The late afternoon sun beat down on the tourists as they wandered the streets attempting to find any way possible to stay in the shade and hydrated. Ingrid had never experienced such heat until she set foot in the smoldering city three weeks ago. In her almost 21 years of life her pale, freckled skin was only truly familiar with the weather in Scotland.

The intel she had received over a month ago that led her to these very streets made her skeptical as she looked around not seeing many redheads. 'Great so I definitely look like a tourist,' she thinks to herself as she looks down at her phone once again for directions to the address she'd been given. "You've arrived," her phone announces as she looks up at the immaculate structure before her.

She licks her chapped lips as her light brown eyes stare at the old castle-like building with tall fences around it. Surprisingly enough, the gates open for Ingrid and she walks through glancing back up at the slowly fading sky. As she approaches the front double doors of the castle, a man appears in front of her with curious eyes. "Who sent you?" He questions, getting straight to the point almost causing Ingrid to jump back at his nearness.

"No one, I was told I could find historical records of special deceased residents here." Ingrid's words stumble as her accent comes off strong showing everyone in the area that she's definitely not from there. "Could you possibly lead me in the direction I need to go?" Her brown eyes plead with the man blocking her way and he relents after a few moments pause.

The man takes her through many hallways, up a flight of stairs, and finally unlocks a heavy door revealing a massive library. "Over to the left there's a filling area with all of our records. There should be a drawer with deceased residents in there, but that's as far as I can help you." He pauses once more as the mysterious man makes his way to the door, "good luck with whatever you're looking for." Just like that he's gone and the door is shut, leaving Ingrid alone with the hundreds of books and records.

Hours pass by while Ingrid mulls through the files of so many people. After learning that she was adopted on her 18th birthday, she set out to save the funds and travel looking for answers as to who her parents were. Or if they were still alive, but years of online research took her nowhere...that is until she stumbled upon the sealed records of a massacre that'd occurred in fall of 2009. A tip took her further to the city of Tel Aviv, and a hope that her parents could be found in those records. Maybe they'd died protecting her, or who knows what happened; but Ingrid had to know.

Luckily she'd narrowed her search down to the year and the date, but because of the massacre that night, there were so many dead to sift through. Which is what led Ingrid to rise from her stiff chair after the sun had long set, stretching and cracking her knuckles and heading for the door. Just as her hand reaches the doorknob the room begins to shake. Books fall from their shelves, her hours of research gets disheveled on the floor, and moments later a loud boom resounds through the building. Followed by another, and another. And the world goes black.

 **Well that was the first chapter of what I hope and plan to be a lengthy story. The basis of things are in my head already and just need to get typed out, but getting from point A to point B sometimes is soooo difficult. Anyways as** **everyone says on here 'I don't own TVD or TO' and if I did things would have ended a lot different. Let me know your thoughts on this and whether you would like to read more of it. I plan to write it out completely on my own just for the satisfaction of doing it, but reviews to post will tell me whether to legitimately write this out for y'all.**

 **Always and Forever (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**Fate**

 **Chapter Two - Bombs Away**

Caroline Forbes was always known for being the sentimental type growing up. Her room filled with trophies, ribbons, pictures, and other mementoes from the life she'd lived with her friends and family. As time went by, those memories and keepsakes became more treasure than she'd ever thought. Then again she also didn't think her best friend would be in a magical coma or that she herself would be a vampire when she was a child - a princess perhaps, but definitely not a vampire.

When Caroline moved to Tel Aviv and took over the supernatural faction as ruler 5 years after arriving, the need for relics of her past became irrelevant. So what was brought with her that could connect anyone to her home was packaged away never to be seen again. Every so often though, she would travel to the single storage unit held just beyond city borders to take a peak at what remained of her human life.

After ending the phone call with Tyler, a trip down memory lane seemed the most logical thing to do. Which is where Caroline sits now, on her bed with a single cardboard box in front of her - the lid begging to be lifted off. With a heavy sigh she opens the box finding the trophies she'd kept over the years. In particular there's a wooden box that belonged to her mother that she pulls from the dust of the random things in the box.

Opening that box is like a blast from the past, and the woman she sees in the pictures inside looks nothing like the one in the mirror today. Two decades changes a lot for a vampire, especially one who's been through as much as Caroline Forbes. Carefully, she sifts through the wooden box. Pulling out stacks of pictures, letters, and even jewelry. A soft smile graces her lips as she lifts up the first daylight ring she'd ever had from the box; recalling the memory of when Bonnie had first done that spell. She looks down with her blue/green eyes at the new ring that consisted of a simple braided band and the lone blue stone in the center that she'd obtained a decade ago.

Setting the ring aside, Caroline lifts the stack of letters up, peering at the sender and the unopened seals on each one. Every year on her birthday she'd received these letters and had never had the courage to open them. If she did it would be like admitting the words written mattered, and they couldn't matter; not when she'd left that life behind for the one she has now. With a sigh, she lifts up the oldest one of the stack, the edges slightly rumpled and the whiteness of the envelope faded from almost 15 years of sitting. "What the heck, might as well open one." Caroline states as she delicately tears the seal and pulls out the neatly written letter.

 _Dearest Caroline,_

 _I imagined what you could be doing as I write this letter; wondering what part of the world you've traveled to, or which language you've decided to tackle next. A world full of art, music, culture, and genuine beauty. Though I do not know where you have travelled to or even if you will ever read this letter, I hope someday you will give me the opportunity to share the genuine beauty of this world with you._

 _However long it takes…_

 _Happy Birthday Caroline_

 _Klaus_

She sighs deeply as her fingers graze over the delicately written words. The impressions of the pen he'd used still present after almost two decades. Part of her wanted to rip open the rest of the letters and indulge in every sweet phrased word he'd written just for her over the years. Yet the other side of her said it was for the best these letters stay unopened, and her feelings buried with them.

Caroline's train of thought is disrupted as a deep rumbling echoes through the room. The bed and everything in the room shakes as several loud booms occur followed by bright flashes of light. Blinding her to everything in the world. Then it all goes dark.

Her blue eyes open wide as she sits up, knocking the debris off of her body. Small flames encase areas of her large room, and cuts with some dried blood cover what skin is visible on her. The shirt she is wearing is ripped in several places and the distant ringing can be heard in her ears. Shutting her eyes tightly, Caroline waits for the ringing to pass and everything comes into focus.

As the room comes into alignment again, the blonde vampire pushes herself to her feet slowly. The sound of screams and soft pleas for help can be heard all around. Anger sweeps through her like she hadn't felt in a long time. Someone had attacked her home, her people, and many were likely dead from the blasts. Caroline quickly flashes out of her room grabbing a few people along the way and helping them escape the quickly crumbling building.

Turning back she looks at the smoke pouring out of the windows and the increasingly loud cries from the creatures left inside. "Ethan!" She calls out searching the crowd for her friend and finding no sign of the vampire. "Dammit," and before anyone could stop the queen of the city she's running back into the building in search of her friend and anyone else she could save.

The inside of the once beautiful estate is in ruins. Several explosions had went off one after the other causing as much damage and destruction as possible in a short period of time. There were flames blocking many of the pathways to certain parts of the building, and other places were cut off by fallen debris. One thing for sure was that the castle wouldn't last much longer, and she had to get as many people out as possible.

Her head turns quickly to the left as coughing is heard nearby, and Caroline flashes over to the source of the sound. There she finds a young redhead struggling to find her way out of a cage of rubble. "Hang on! I'm going to get you out, just don't move." The blonde steps back as far as she can away from the wall of ruins in her way and she charges at it with all her strength. The wall crumbles with ease and Caroline comes face to face with the redhead she'd only caught glimpses of moments before.

The young woman's brown eyes are wide as her chest heaves from the thick smoke in the area, "get of out here." Caroline pushes the girl in the direction of the exit and continues on with her search for Ethan. Not much further from where she found the girl, the brunette vampire that'd come to be Caroline's closest friend lies under a large pile of fallen remains. In an instant the blonde is standing over him examining the damage done and if she can get him out without causing anymore pain.

Several pieces of metal from a wall that'd collapsed are sticking through his abdomen and legs, and shards of wood can be seen throughout the visible portions of his body. "Alright Ethan, you're gonna be just fine. This is going to hurt - probably a lot, but it's going to be ok because we're survivors. We always have been," Caroline talks as the barely conscious vampire beneath her remains quiet. After several long moments of quiet and Caroline making efforts to free him from the pins holding him down, Ethan's eyes open wide to see the blonde standing over him.

"Care…"

"Shhh," she almost whispers looking down at her only friend she's made here in over a decade. "I'm going to get you out of this. Don't worry."

"No Cara you have to go, you have to leave now." Ethan's frantic yet weak voice surprises the blonde as she pauses to look into his green eyes with confusion. "Don't worry about me I've lived long enough, but you need to get out of here."

Shaking her head she tries to get her friend to focus, "Ethan you're not making any sense. You're going to live, we're all going to be just fi-ah!" She grips her head as the attack of a witch is felt coming from behind her. The sharp sensations of pain assaulting her head as she looks around for her attacker.

All of a sudden the small space is filled with several witches and vampires alike. None of them appearing familiar to the community of Tel Aviv that Caroline has known for over a decade. As the witches chant, Ethans neck is snapped and the blonde vampire struggles to stop the one moving towards him with a stake in hand. "NO!" She cries out as the stake is plunged into Ethan's chest and his body begins to grey.

Caroline tries to use her strength to stand to her feet, to do anything to fight back against the traitors amongst her. She finds that her knees are glued to the ground and moving is a hopeless thought. "This is just the beginning Caroline," a voice resounds through the room seeming to have come from thin air as no one in the room opened their mouths. A vampire flashes in front of Caroline and her eyes go wide as he plunges a hand into her chest, squeezing her heart in his hand, and his eyes show delight at the pain read on her face. A single tear escapes her bright eyes as the man retracts his hand and rips her heart from her chest in a clean sweep.

Just like that Caroline Forbes falls beside her friend, her eyes wide open as the grey veins sweep up her body and infinite darkness consumes her.

Hope Mikaelson gasps awake in the dark of the night, the visions from her nightmare haunting her every time she blinks. Quickly she pulls out the sketchbook from her bedside table and frantically puts the pen to paper drawing out the blonde woman she'd just seen. The detail of her eyes, the waves in her hair, even the slight dimple on her cheek as she grimaced in pain.

A shudder runs through her body as she recalls the violent death that just occurred in her dream. "She's dead…" her voice trails off as the young witch attempts to grasp onto why the visions wouldn't have warned Hope of the mystery woman's death. Maybe she could have saved her, or perhaps this was a mere warning of what's to come.

Looking down at her notepad she'd drawn in perfect detail the face of the woman as her heart was being ripped from her chest. Hope quickly jots down random words on the page beside the image. 'Who is she? Why did someone/something want her dead? Where did she die? Something's coming.' All phrases that confused her to no end and the youngest Mikaelson knew she would get no sleep that night.

The only thing she could do is lay awake pondering the infinite answers to her questions, and replaying the dreams of the mystery blonde over and over until dawn broke through the curtains.

Ingrid coughs as she looks around at the chaos; examining the damage around her as flames encase a majority of the building - what was left of it at least. Her eyes immediately dart to the room on her right where the dead body of Caroline Forbes lay, covered in grey veins, her blue eyes wide open and unseeing.

The feeling the redhead experiences is indescribable and perplexing. It's almost as if a rope tethered her to the deceased blonde several yards away; pulling her closer and closer until her brown eyes looked down at the greyed woman with a gaping hole in her chest. Ingrid's chest heaves as she tries to control her racing heart whilst kneeling down to examine the strangely calm face of the blonde. A strength emerging out of nowhere compels her to lift the dead body into her arms, and at a speed she'd never run before the pair flee the burning building.

Surveying the area as Ingrid burst through the smoke covered exit, she finds bodies everywhere, and no emergency responders. Just a freshly bombed estate, dead people similar looking to Caroline, and a lot of living injured. Something inside of her says 'don't stay here,' she Ingrid listens to that voice. Running is all she knows for the next half hour, and to keep moving. Someone had come after the people in that place, specifically targeting the dead blonde on her shoulders.

A loud crash resounds out in the distance as the pair reach a field just outside the city, a place where she wouldn't be found or disturbed. Ingrid turns around to watch as the tall building in the distance crumbles to dirt and ash, and the cries of shock from the locals can be heard for miles.

Setting the body down on the ground, Ingrid feels the adrenaline that was coursing through her die down. The capacity of her wounds finally hitting her as she looks down at the small cuts, scrapes, and burns on her exposed skin. Her eyelids growing heavier by the second, the redhead lies down and lets the exhaustion encase her in an unending cocoon.

Hours pass by, and to Ingrid they feel like days as she opens her groggy eyes to see the sun setting in the distance. Colorful hues taking over the sky as she looks over to the body beside her. Still curious as to why she even grabbed the dead body of a stranger who she'd only met once. Her brows crinkles together as she watches the grey veins that had stretched across the blondes body, recede.

If Caroline could describe death it would be given the trait of never-ending darkness, and a cold like she hadn't experienced. This was different compared to when she'd have her neck snapped, or when she first died in the hospital all those years ago. Here she heard voices that were mumbled, jumbled, and lost in translation. It was as if someone was delivering several different messages all at once and she couldn't focus in on just one thing. So in short terms, death sucked.

In the dark as the voices grew louder and louder, Caroline thought of the last thing she'd been doing before her death. Reading letters from Klaus Mikaelson, 'great that's my last act on this earth! Minus saving people of course, but I really had to have been reading letters from him and exploring my feelings just before death?' She thinks to herself whilst spinning around to look for any source of light in the sea of black.

Finding none, she lets out a huff and shakes her head in anger, confusion, and worry. Why did some witches want her heart? Why was she even wanted dead? Caroline guesses the last decade she'd been walking the earth was the answer to why people wanted her dead. A baby vampire no more than 38 years old, and she'd only been a vampire for 21 years. She wasn't even half as strong as the other vampires that walked the streets of her city, and somehow she'd won them all over.

Suddenly in that unending abyss of dark a bright light bursts through, and the voices fade to a softer level as if they were further off in the distance. Out of instinct she moves toward the light bringing her arms up to cover her eyes from the brightness. It was as if walking into the sun itself, the blinding white light became all that she could see as she went further in. Then it seemed to balance out and she blinked, seeing a colorful sky above her, feeling grass below her, hearing the sound of life around her.

"Oh my God," a voice exclaims as Caroline slowly sits up grunting in pain slightly. "You were dead, I...how is this even possible?" The girl screams as she jumps to her feet and backs away from the blonde.

Caroline recognized her as the redhead she'd saved just before going to find Ethan. 'Ethan…' she bites her lower lip attempting to appear strong in front of the strange girl, but her mind won't stop playing the last moments she had with her dearest friend. "You're not familiar with the supernatural are you?"

"Uh...like the things that go bump in the night?" Ingrid questions looking at the blonde woman rising to her feet. She was beautiful even after just rising from the dead. Her blonde hair, though it has dried blood in it, fell in smooth curls to her chest, bright blue eyes with long curled lashes observed the world around her, and though her face read of innocence and youth those same blue eyes told a different story.

The woman scoffs shaking her head, "how did you even end up at the estate? If you don't know about the supernatural then you certainly had to have had help finding this place," Caroline gestures the area around her before looking back at the redhead expecting answers.

"My name is Ingrid Valdez," she says looking at the confident woman before her that practically screamed royalty. "I'm from London, and I am 20 years old - almost 21 technically...but you don't care about that." Ingrid looks down at her feet feeling strangely intimidated by the woman, but knowing she hadn't felt this insecure in a long time.

What shocks Ingrid more, she can't tell. The blonde immediately sticks out her hand for her to shake in a greeting. She wears a bright smile showing off her white teeth and a slight dimple on her cheek. "Well Ingrid it was a pleasure to meet you, I'm Caroline. Thank you for getting me out of that building, but I'm afraid now you're going to have to forget all this ever happened." Caroline steps up close to her looking into the girls light brown eyes, "you're going to leave the city, forget about whatever you came searching for here. Forget my face, my name, every detail about your trip here. It was merely passing through," as Caroline backs away after compelling Ingrid she looks at her strangely.

"What makes you think I'm gonna do that?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Caroline exclaims as she throws her hands up and looks to sky wondering why she was cursed to have such a bad day. "I guess that means you're stuck with me now Ingrid." The vampire immediately grasps onto her arm and drags the human across the field heading further away from the city.

"No no no, where the hell are you taking me? You can't just say crap like 'you will forget me and this trip,' and then expect me to willingly follow you to wherever it is that you're going." Ingrid digs her heels into the ground attempting to stop Caroline from taking her any further, but her attempts are futile as the blonde is a lot stronger than she anticipated. Granted she did just wake from the dead.

Caroline swirls around to face her as they stand inches apart. "No you don't get to ask questions. You were in my home when we were all attacked. Some good people died back there, and I don't know who you are or why you're here. So let's get one thing straight, you're not leaving my side until we are halfway across the world where those psycho's can't find us again."

"Someone's grumpy," Ingrid states as she smirks but eventually gives into the guiding hand of the blonde. A long silence passes as Caroline leads them through the extensive field towards the more populated part of the city, where the airport sits ready for them to leave. "Did those people come there to attack you?"

Her voice comes out small, much more timid than she would have liked. After all these years apart from the people she'd grown up with Caroline should be stronger than this, but she isn't. "I think so...let's find some clothes to change into. I doubt we'd make it past security dressed like this, even if I did compel the security."

"Compel?"

Caroline sighs and pauses for a minute, "yeah it's a power that vampires have. They can use compulsion as a sort of mind control trick, make people forget things, suppress fears. It's a powerful tool when used properly."

"Vampires," Ingrid looks at her companion with wide eyes realizing that's exactly what she'd tried to do earlier.

"Yes I'm a vampire and please don't scream because trust me I could've killed you by now. But I haven't because I'm a decent person," Caroline looks at the frightened young girl before her. She looks so much like Caroline did decades ago when she was just entering into the world of supernaturals. And now Ingrid is diving headfirst into all of this without anyone close to her to help. "Look I'll explain everything that I know on the plane ride, but right now can you please just trust me."

The blonde known as Caroline extends her hand out towards Ingrid, asking her to trust. That was a very bold word for someone who she'd just met hours ago, and yet she found it so easy to take her hand. "Alright, but promise me no one else dies."

"I can never promise that in this world."

The flight lasted for about 20 hours with one stop along the way, and that gave Ingrid plenty of opportunities to ask questions. It also gave Caroline the chance to unload any vital information the redhead needed to know about the supernatural world. By the time they'd landed Ingrid's head was about to explode from everything she'd learned, and somehow apparently there was still more.

"Where are we," she questions as the pair step out of the airport in the United States. "Better yet where are we going," she watches as a taxi pulls up and they step into the car.

"Mystic Falls please," Caroline states to the driver and looks back at Ingrid who raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "We're going to my home."

 **CHAPTER TWO IS HERE! I hope you guys are all enjoying the direction this story is taking, and I promise we will get some more information on what's been going on with the whole Mystic Falls gang soon. In the next few chapters we'll have a wedding to attend in NOLA, be prepared for a Mystic Falls Gang + Originals reunion. This is a KLAROLINE fanfic and it will most likely be somewhat of a slow burn. After all it has been literally two decades in my story since the pair have seen each other...that being said I hope I do these characters justice as well as write a good story of love, family, adventure, etc. etc.**

 **As usual I don't own TVD OR TO I wish I did but unfortunately I haven't had the privilege of seeing Joseph Morgan shirtless in person...**

 **Always and Forever...and until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fate**

 **Chapter Three - Mystic Falls...Hasn't Changed at All**

Bonnie sat at her desk in her classroom grading papers when a knock came at her door. What surprised her most of all was the blonde that stepped in after the knock. "Caroline!" She jumps to her feets moving around her desk to hug her long lost friend. After the hug she quickly slaps her friends arm in a playful manner, "where the hell have you been the past few years?"

"Here, there, everywhere. I'm sorry I stayed away, and I shouldn't have done that when my adorable godchildren need an aunt to spoil them," Caroline smiles as she takes her oldest friends hand. Bonnie truly hadn't changed a bit after 20 years. Though she looked a little older, the youthfulness in her eyes never faded. "Speaking of which, where are those two angels?"

The older woman sighs as she stands to her feet gathering the stacks of papers and her bag, "Abigail is at dance practice at the moment. Graham just picked Aaron up from daycare, and hopefully he will get dinner cooked before I get home with Abbi." The blonde vampire smiles thinking of the last time she'd seen Bonnie's children.

"Gosh it's been too long. I haven't seen Abbi since right after Aaron was born." Caroline grabs a stack of papers to help her friend as they walk across the once familiar campus towards the offices. "This is Ingrid by the way," she gestures to the redhead that had been silently following the pair since Caroline's arrival. "She and I are...friends," her words give no assurance to any of them that her statement is true, but Bonnie makes no comment of it.

As the three women step into Bonnie's office at Whitmore, the door shuts behind them and they all settle into the various chairs in the small space. "So do you want to tell me why you made an unplanned, unannounced trip back home? I figured when I hadn't heard from you after Aaron was born that you'd left here for good." Bonnie crosses her arms and it's clear to Caroline that she has a lot of explaining to do.

Caroline sucks in a long breath, gathering her thoughts before she embarks on a tale of what the last two decades have been like. "I shouldn't have dropped off the face of the earth. I'm sorry Bon, but when I stepped out of this town for good and truly made a life for myself...it was like taking a breath of fresh air in for the first time in my life." Bonnie's brows arch slightly looking at her immortal friend with confusion, "I guess I should start at the beginning."

 **STORY TIME**

' _A few months after Stefan and I ended things, my flight heading to Tokyo somehow got delayed and landed in Tel Aviv, Israel. My plan was to simply spend the night in a hotel and then resume my travels the next day; but the city was so full of life and the supernatural creatures lived in a way I had never experienced. It was beautiful and something told me to not leave. So I didn't.'_

' _It was like coming home to a place I never knew as home. After a year of traveling back and forth, I relented and bought a place in the city.'_

' _It wasn't long before I was approached by the leader of the supernatural community there. His name was Cyrus, a vampire of about 600 years old. He was...imposing, and quite scary when he wanted to be. I watched for a few years as he forced his rule upon the innocent, killing whomever he pleased when he pleased.'_

' _My only option at this point was to keep quiet or leave the city I'd grown to love as my own, and so I chose to ignore the violence. That is until 4 years after I moved there I was approached by a vampire by the name of Ethan, and he introduced me to the underground resistance in the city. The people who were tired of worrying over their children's lives and the next generation's survival.'_

' _The process was long, grueling, and many people lost their lives, but in the end we built a city free of Cyrus' tyranny. There was this huge battle where all the factions came together from the rebellion and we attacked the estate...a lot of people died that night, and I guess I got lucky enough to deliver the death blow. Somehow because of that night I ended up ruling the supernaturals in that city for the next 7 years.'_

' _Over the years I travelled back to Mystic Falls to visit, but eventually my ties to my past became a weapon. That's when I decided to disappear, and I did a damn good job at it...except I still had enemies. About three years ago I began receiving letters from someone that calls themselves "The Teacher," and at first it was innocent letters that merely confused me. Then it escalated to people going missing and their bodies showing up piece by piece to my doorstep.'_

' _Ethan and I did everything we could to keep it quiet, but missing supernaturals were piling up. We were ready to come forward with what we knew, but that's when his messengers attacked the estate. Ingrid and I barely escaped with our lives that day, but Ethan and many of the people there weren't so lucky.'_

"So now we're here talking to you, and heading back to Mystic Falls in hopes of laying low for a while. Just until I can figure out what to do or where to go next," Caroline states as the room comes back into focus for her. While telling the brief version of the last decade's events her mind had wandered off to visions of the past.

Her encounters with Ethan, the visits to Mystic Falls, the rebellion's plots and late nights planning in secret. Most importantly, the battle against Cyrus where Caroline had experienced her first death, and a detail she intended to leave out of her stories to Bonnie. There was no way she should have won that fight against Cyrus, the playing field was nowhere near even; and when he shoved a stake through her heart it proved she was right. He'd tossed her body into a pile among the other dead ones, but hours later she'd crawled out of it with her bare hands. Coming for vengeance like a thief in the night, and she did deliver the final blow that killed Cyrus…all because he was so shocked that Caroline Forbes had become the unkillable.

"Caroline! Caroline!" Her friend calls towards the blonde as she snaps her fingers in front of the vampire's face. "Where'd you go?" Bonnie questions as she and Ingrid look concerned at Caroline's far off appearance.

"Sorry, I was just thinking…"

"Well now that you're done, Bonnie here was asking about the letters you said you were getting from this teacher dude." Ingrid pipes up finally relaxing into the atmosphere.

The Bennett witch leans forward watching her friend curiously, "you said that this person called himself the 'Teacher?'"

Caroline shrugs and moves closer to her, "I don't even know if it is a 'he,' but yes _HE_ did refer to himself as the Teacher. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've seen that term a few times in my research of magical creatures…"

Wedding festivities were in full swing as the day approached where Rebekah would no longer be a Mikaelson by name, but instead a Salvatore. She'd never imagined in her millenia of life that she wouldn't be a Mikaelson. After years of lovers coming and going she believed that this form of happiness was simply off the table for her, but life surprises in the most inexplicable ways.

She sits on the couch of the exclusive bridal shop watching as Hayley dotes on Hope in their bridesmaid dresses. Part of her wonders if she would have been this happy a thousand years ago getting married as a human, but that came with the prospect of having children and starting a family. That option was off the table now and so Rebekah made do, and found happiness where she could in life; and that was with Stefan Salvatore.

"Auntie Bex," her nieces voice sounds off in the distance as the room comes back into focus. "Are you alright?"

She smiles at the teenager on the brink of adulthood and takes in all of her delicate features. "Of course, you look lovely Hope." The original looks at her niece in the light dusty pink dress that brushed the floor gently.

Hayley sighs as she looks in the mirror at her reflection, "I'm wearing pink for you Rebekah." She chuckles lightly as the three women smile at each other, "speaking of bridesmaids where's Freya?"

"I'm here, I'm here!" The woman in questions voice sounds as the bell to the front door rings and a frazzled Freya Mikaelson rushes into the bridal shop. "Sorry, Vincent and I were working on some...stuff." The eldest Mikaelson huffs out a heavy breath as she grabs a glass of champagne from nearby.

Everyone lifts up their own glasses to toast to the bride, "uh uh uh not so fast little one." Hayley states as she quickly swipes the glass of alcohol from her daughter's hand.

"Oh come on mom. It's a special occasion, and I'm 18 now."

Hayley rolls her eyes once more holding tightly to the second glass in hand, "yes and it's legal for you to drink in other countries..but not here. Your father may be a little more lenient on special occasions, but sorry sweetie I'm not your dad."

The four women all stand in the bridal shop for the next hour trying on, altering the bridesmaid dresses, and toasting (Hope with sparkling cider) to the new family that would join theirs at the end of next week. Although in the back of Hope's mind the entire time sat the dream that had haunted her for weeks now, and the outcome of the previous night. The mystery blonde that she'd invested so much curiosity and time into had died, and now there was nothing she could do to find her.

"Wait so you've heard of the Teacher before?" Caroline questions as she looks to Bonnie who quickly moves around her office in search of a book among the many on the shelves. The witch remains silent as she mutters under her breath in search of the book, "hello earth to Bonnie. What do you know about this Teacher person?"

"Aha! I found it!" She exclaims happily while rushing back to her desk to brush the dust off the big book. "I read in here years ago when Grams had first told me about being a witch about legends of supernatural creatures. There was a tale - although very short - in here about someone called the Teacher and how he and his 5 students were once the most powerful witches of their time."

"Any other information besides that?" Ingrid questions as she stands back looking from Caroline to the witch she'd recently met.

Bonnie quickly looks up making eye contact with her, "not much unfortunately. They lived around the time of Silas, but their story takes place just after the Other Side was created and the immortality curse was placed on Silas." The Bennett witch sighs heavily as she tries to translate the scribbled writings of whoever wrote the story of the Teacher. "It says here that his 5 students each had unique gifts that had never been seen to witches in that time. The book doesn't go into detail on these gifts though, but it does say that they were more powerful than their teacher...and like any story goes, he didn't like that. Word had gotten out that Quetsya had created the immortality spell for Silas, and the Teacher wanted something of his own like that so he could surpass his students in power. When he was denied his wish by the witch herself he created his own spell, which involved the sacrifice of his 5 accolades to harness their unique abilities for his own. They learned of his plan and made a failsafe that would protect them from death, but ultimately the Teacher slaughtered his students and their power created an entire new realm. In death their spirits travelled to this realm instead of the Other Side and now held the power to watch over and guide the supernatural timeline. Seeing what had become of their former teacher's heart they created a purgatory that would act as a prison just for him for all eternity. Legend has it that the Teacher vowed to escape someday and come for revenge on his students, gaining the immortality and power he deserved."

The room is silent for a few minutes after Bonnie finishes reading the book and closes it quietly. "What does this have to do with me though? I have no connection to this Teacher, but I've received gifts and threats from him for over a year now."

"I don't know Care…" Bonnie's answer was the worst possible one to receive in this moment. Yet it's all that she could offer, and offer honestly. "We'll figure this out though don't worry." She pauses to look at the time on her phone, "it's time to pick up Abigail. Would you two like to come over for dinner tonight? I can call Graham and ask him to set two extra spots at the table."

"Yes we'd love to," Caroline immediately answers as Ingrid looks between the two longtime friends. "I haven't seen the kids in years and it's probably best I bond with them now instead of 10 years down the road when their weird vampire 'aunt' shows up."

Bonnie simply laughs as the three exit her office together and make the drive back to the suburb where she'd settled down in a few years back.

Two hours later the three women sat on the couches in the living room of Bonnie's home. The kids had been tucked into bed and Graham was working in his office space as the ladies each nursed a glass of wine discussing various aspects of their lives.

"You should go though Care," the witch states as she takes another sip of her wine. Caroline avoids her friends stare, but the topic was unavoidable. "I'm going to the wedding, we could go together. Graham is staying here with the kids for the week since I'd rather not introduce my children to the Mikaelson family."

"But it's Stefan's _wedding,_ I can't go to that Bonnie. A decade ago if things hadn't gone the way they had we would've been planning our wedding and inviting people to it. Plus I already told Tyler I wasn't going, so there lies your answer. Caroline Forbes will not set foot in New Orleans anytime soon." The blonde crosses her arms across her chest as she stares at the empty glass of wine on the coffee table.

The witch eyes her blonde friend skeptically, "is this because of Stefan or Klaus?" Caroline's blue eyes snap up to stare at Bonnie with many emotions dripping from her gaze. "Or both," she states after taking in the look the vampire had given her.

"Who is Klaus?" Ingrid pipes in joining the conversation for the first time in a while.

"He's the guy I told you about that tormented all of us two decades ago in Mystic Falls."

"You mean the British dude that killed your other friend...the one who's currently in a magical sleeping coma?" Ingrid looks curiously at the blonde who simply nods in confirmation. "So you two had a thing? And yet he tried to kill and did kill people you care about?"

Caroline rubs her hands across her face in frustration, "yes okay. Klaus has done all of those horrible and terrible things," her voice drifts off as her lips shut tight not daring to continue her sentence further.

"But?" Ingrid looks at Caroline not understanding how the world could be so grey after stepping into the supernatural realm.

"But nothing. He did terrible things, and tried to show me that he cared for me. Made promises about 'last loves' and crap, but still somehow went off and started a family with a werewolf chick." Caroline bites her nail slightly as her knees come up to her chest on the couch.

"You could find out how he's doing at least by going to the wedding." Bonnie states looking at her friend and feeling the conflicting emotions the blonde felt towards the original hybrid. They'd all been there at some point with someone. Even when Elena chose to be with Damon knowing all the things he had done and continued to do, but Klaus had more years of life and more death on his hands. The Bennett witch was quite amused by the fact that the almighty Klaus Mikaelson could show so much emotion when the baby vampire Caroline Forbes was mentioned.

"Can we just not talk about 'he who shall not be named' anymore?" She picks up her wine glass once more and fills it halfway, drinking most of its contents in one gulp. "Let's talk about what the hell I'm gonna wear to this stupid wedding since someone is bound to snap my neck and drag me there before the weekend is over."

Two days after their arrival in Virginia, Caroline and Ingrid had taken several trips between Bonnie's home and the former Forbes home in Mystic Falls. Caroline had lost most of her belongings in the bombing several days prior, and had desperately needed an entire wardrobe of clothes fast. Where better to go than her former closet in Mystic Falls where she'd left most of her belongings after departing the small town almost twenty years ago.

Late in the evening on Caroline's third night in town she calls Bonnie from the front porch of her home. "Alright Bon, I'll go to New Orleans with you. This is my sober confirmation, but we're travelling the way I decide. I came home seeking a place to lay low for a while which means we need to be discreet in our travels."

"You've always been the excessive planner Care, I had no intentions of leaving until you agreed to come with me anyways." Bonnie's voice comes through the phone and the blonde can practically hear the smile in her voice. "We can leave a few days before the wedding so we won't have to spend too much time in the city."

"Sound perfect to me, and Bonnie?"

"Yes Care?"

"Thank you for always taking care of me. I'm sorry it took me so long to come home." Caroline hangs up after that and stares out at the open night sky wondering how much Stefan has changed in the last decade. If he was happy with Rebekah, and she even pondered what Klaus's reaction to her arrival would be.

For so long her home had been in Tel Aviv surrounded by supernatural creatures that respected and feared her all at once. Now she was on the run from the very person that had killed most of those supernaturals. She couldn't help but laugh at how much life had changed in the past week, and deep down Caroline knew that this was just the beginning.

"Are you sure we have everything?" Caroline questions as she stares into the packed trunk of their rental car. The two women stand outside of the airport in Alabama preparing for the 5 hour drive to New Orleans. Caroline taps her foot with her fingers pressed against her lips as she rechecks the mental list of all their belongings.

"Yes Caroline, we've doubled checked everything. All of the bags are here. Now can we please get a move on?" Bonnie states as she grabs the keys out of her friends hand to start the car. "If you don't get in the car now I'll be the one driving and I will purposely get us lost in the middle of nowhere."

The blonde rolls her eyes quickly hopping into the driver's seat before Bonnie could take that place. "Just be glad I agreed to tag along," she smiles over at the witch as she remembers the day when they were both wide eyed teenagers.

An hour into the drive the music had died down to a dull sensation, and the only sound in the car was the occasional huff from Bonnie and the GPS giving Caroline directions. During the car ride the blonde vampire found herself thinking over every possible scenario of what could happen when she walks into the wedding a few days from now. Would she be asked to leave? She and Rebekah were never close friends, and now that she'd broken Stefan's heart years ago there was a high chance neither of them even wanted her there. 'Good,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe I will get kicked out and then I won't have to face anyone from memory lane besides Bonnie.'

Three hours down and two to go. Caroline's palms begin to get clammy as she ponders turning the car around. Bonnie's head lay against the window as she had fallen asleep an hour ago, and once again she had been left to her thoughts. This time her mind flashes back to her last moments with Stefan, when things had gone so terribly wrong.

 **FLASHBACK**

 _Paris France 2018_

"I have to go to him Caroline. He's my brother," Stefan says as he runs his fingers through his hair. The younger Salvatore brother feeling torn in so many ways as the woman he loves begs him not to leave, to choose her first for once; but the duty he feels for her brother weighs heavy on his heart.

Caroline sighs as she sits down on the bed of their apartment in Paris. Her head hangs low and her shoulders sag, "for once I just wish you would choose us. Choose me first, love me enough to stay out of the danger that Damon always gets sucked into." She sucks back tears and hides her face more from Stefan hoping he doesn't see the pre-vampire Caroline bubbling to the surface.

"He's my brother, I can't abandon him. You know that."

"Of course I do Stefan, and it wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't know how this ends." Caroline stands to her feet once more feeling the need to pace the floor and gather her thoughts, but the look in his green eyes only muddles her mind further. "You'll go to him and promise to be back soon, and then a few weeks later I'll get a call that you're going to stay longer. Then I'll have to leave and go back to Mystic Falls because Damon has done something that put you in danger of losing your life, or you have to protect Elena because she's defenseless in the sleeping curse. We can't keep going around this tree Stefan."

The elder vampire moves to block Caroline's path of pacing, "I did choose you Caroline. I chose you when you turned into a vampire to be there for you. I chose you when your mom was dying, and when I was on the run from the Travelers. I gave up everything for you! When you turned off your humanity I followed you into that knowing it could destroy me because I'm a ripper, and I still did it because I love you. I left my brother after he lost the best thing that's ever happened to us. Caroline I left it all behind, my brother and everything I'd known for the last decade to travel the world and be with you."

Her voice comes out so small that he almost doesn't catch it, "but if Damon had needed you or if Elena had somehow decided to come back to you..would you have chosen me? Because I don't know if you would and I don't think you would."

Stefan chuckles darkly as he runs his fingers through his hair and drags his hands down his tired face. "We've been together and travelling for 5 years, and you decide now is the time to say you don't think I love you?"

"You said the best thing that's ever happened to you and Damon...is Elena." He immediately looks up at Caroline knowing where she's going with this. Her voice is soft and her eyes filled with years of building heartache and hurt. "I get it, she was your epic love. I cheered on that love for her for years; and when she moved on to Damon I fought on your side because I had seen how madly in love with Elena you were." Caroline sighs wondering what to do next, but there's no way to turn back now that this conversation's started. "You still love her, and I know a part of you always will. It's Elena - she's my best friend that I've known since childhood, but I can't stand here and pretend that I don't wonder when this could end. When she'll come back and choose you, and then this will be done and I'll be reminded that once again..I'm the second choice."

Caroline lets her words hang in the air as Stefan merely looks around trying to gather his thoughts. Perhaps to find a way out of this argument with their relationship intact. "I need some air," she turns to grab her coat and exits their small apartment.

Just before she walks out Stefan calls out her name. She turns around to see him on one knee with a velvet box in hand. A small sigh comes from her as tears well in her eyes and she bites her bottom lip. "Stefan…" the name leaves her mouth like a breeze; it can't be traced. Swallowing hard, Caroline turns around and leaves the room knowing that when she came back what was left of them would be gone.

An hour after walking the streets of Paris in the evening, Caroline returned to their apartment to find Stefan's car running outfront and several suitcases loaded into the back. Inside when she walks in the door, Stefan is sitting on the couch with his carry-on bag beside him and the ring in front of him. Caroline watches as the iridescent diamond catches the light from nearby, and it's enough to almost make her reconcile..almost. "I've been carrying this thing around Paris for the last two weeks waiting for the right moment, but it just hadn't come yet. And when you were walking out the door earlier, it felt like all I had that could salvage this was this ring. I guess I was wrong," Stefan sighs as he stands to his feets and shrugs his bag over his shoulders. He sets down the ring on the countertop nearby and heads for the door.

Caroline's eyes close as his lips gently meet her cheek, and she briefly registers that this would be their last moment together. The short moment wasn't enough to make her stop him though, "goodbye Caroline."

 **PRESENT DAY**

That was the last time she'd heard from Stefan Salvatore...until news of his engagement to Rebekah. Part of her the day she learned Stefan proposed to Rebekah had been relieved, and yet another mourned the loss of a love that could have been. Just a decade ago Caroline stood in Paris with the opportunity to say yes to Stefan, and instead she turned her back and walked out the door.

She rests her head against the steering wheel of the rental car as she parks in a garage by their hotel. "Care are you ready?" Bonnie puts a gentle hand on her friends arm in concern, knowing just how the blonde was feeling in the moment. They'd finally arrived in New Orleans just 48 hours before the Mikaelson-Salvatore wedding.

"Yeah, I'm as ready as I could ever be." The blonde vampire flashes out of the car and grabs as many bags as she could carry. Hopefully she could make it across the street to the hotel unseen by anyone familiar. "Mission accomplished," Caroline mutters to herself as she sets the numerous bags down in the lobby. She waits for Bonnie by the door as the witch takes a little more time to get from the car to the hotel across the street. "I already checked us in, so load your stuff up and let's get to our room."

The day had finally arrived. After a year of planning, almost three years of rekindling their relationship, and over a millenia of waiting - Rebekah Mikaelson was finally tying the knot. She stands in front of her bathroom mirror after a nice shower, brushing her hair out and humming along to the light music filling the space. Their hair and makeup team should be arriving any minute, and she was jumping in her shoes at the thought that in a few short hours she would be Rebekah Salvatore.

"Knock knock," Freya's voice sounds at the doorway as she and the Hope enter the room. "Happy wedding day," the blonde Mikaelson states as she pulls a cart in behind her. "I brought mimosa's...non-alcoholic for Hope of course." The women laugh lightly at the pout that comes from the youngest Mikaelson lady.

Rebekah quickly takes a glass and downs it in one gulp, "I'm sorry but I can't help but be slightly nervous. After a thousand years of terrible love stories - most of them thwarted by Nik - it seems a little surreal that I'm actually getting married." She sighs and looks down at the gorgeous ring on her finger, and all of her worries fade away in an instant.

"Well put some deodorant on and get ready for a nervous day, because I've got news." Hayley comes barging into the room quickly taking in the mood she'd set, "sorry I don't mean to cause any chaos. I overheard Tyler talking to the guys earlier about his plus one...and apparently he invited Caroline Forbes."

The two women who were familiar with that name immediately look at each other with wide eyes, "um could one of you please enlighten the rest of us on who this 'Caroline Forbes' woman is?" Hope questions as she raises her hand slightly to get her mother and aunt's attention.

"She's a vampire, very young and Nik had an obsession with her for a time about twenty years ago. Before Stefan came to New Orleans he'd spent 5 years in a relationship with Caroline, they'd travelled the world together...and he proposed to her as well, but she walked away from him. He was heartbroken when I first saw him after that. Why would Tyler invite her in the first place when everyone knows what went down between them?" Rebekah questions as her mind runs a million miles a minute. If Caroline showed up at her wedding what could that mean for her family?

The bride shakes off her nervousness and reminds herself that Caroline chose to walk away from Stefan, and that she was the one marrying him today. The blonde baby vampire was nothing but a memory and a stepping stone that brought Stefan back to her after over a century apart.

"Don't worry about anyone else, this is your big day Rebekah. If anyone tries to make a scene I'll have them thrown out," Hayley states as she makes herself a mimosa and prepares to be primped by the incoming team of makeup and hair artists.

Several hours later, everyone was dressed and ready to go. The staff were helping to seat people in the Mikaelson compound that had been decorated for Rebekah's wedding to her taste. As Hayley stood on the second floor balcony space overlooking the incoming guests she remembered her own wedding to Jackson all those years ago. A sigh escapes as she mourns the loss of her husband for a moment, and as if he senses it Elijah comes to rest his hand on her waist.

"He would be proud of you," Elijah mutters into her ear as his arms come to wrap around the hybrid. "I also would like to believe that he is at peace somewhere." Jackson Kenner was not a frequent topic between the pair, but today all of the memories from years ago came rushing back to the surface for the pair.

Hayley turns around to face the original, "we should get downstairs I think they're going to start soon." She plants a gentle yet passionate kiss on his lips and the pair make their way downstairs to greet the remaining guests and get in place for the wedding procession.

Everything was perfect. The lighting, the music, the vows, and even the pink bridesmaid dresses - and somehow Klaus managed to be on his best behavior in front of Damon Salvatore and the Mystic Falls gang. Out of the corner of his eye though during the ceremony his eyes meet hers for the first time in decades.

She's beautiful, moreso than the last time they'd encountered each other. Her blonde hair slightly longer than he remembered, and the blue dress she wore hugged her body in ways pleasant to anyone looking at her. The Bennett witch sat beside her looking between the two as their eyes met, but Klaus's attention was diverted back to his little sister as she and Stefan continued with the ceremony.

Someone else had caught the encounter between Klaus and Caroline though, but she didn't know her name was Caroline. Hope's eyes grew wider by the second as she watched the encounter between the blonde woman and her dad, the same woman she'd been dreaming of for months now. The blonde vampire that had supposedly died a week ago, and was now sitting in her home like nothing had happened.

 **Here is chapter three! I'm so glad to see reviews, follows, etc. I didn't think my writing was great but I really just wanted to get it out there...and stop being a chicken about it. Anyways, I've written about the first 5 and a half chapters and am working on editing those now, and that means updating for the next few days will be pretty regular. After that it might be a few days to a week between updates just depending on how my schedule works out, but I'm hoping to get this written in a timely manner so you guys can keep reading.**

 **As usual, I don't own TVD or TO, but I truly wish I did because I would change a lot of things.**

 **Please review, follow, and favorite to keep up with the story**

 **Always and Forever :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fate**

 **Chapter Four - You're Dead**

If someone had told Hope Mikaelson a few hours ago that she'd spend her aunts wedding watching a mysterious blonde woman like a hawk, she would've called them crazy. Yet low and behold here she was...watching a mysterious blonde. She looked on cautiously as several people from Stefan's side of the family came up to her and greeted the blonde. In her 18 years of life Hope had never seen someone so talked about at another woman's wedding.

"Keep staring like that and your face will stick," her aunt Freya laughs slightly as she hands her niece a glass of champagne. "Don't worry I told your mom it was sparkling cider. So why are you staring at Caroline like that? I doubt your father would be happy if you caused trouble with her."

"That's Caroline Forbes?" Her voice comes off a little loud for the people nearby, but luckily the woman in question doesn't seem to notice. Freya nods in response as she takes a sip of her own champagne, "that's the blonde vampire from my dreams aunt Freya." Hope whispers in her aunts ear as the pair exchange a confused and worried glance before looking back at the infamous Caroline mingling with several of the vampires.

Across the room Caroline chats with the few people she knew at the wedding. With Bonnie ever present at her side, the pair meet up with Tyler and Matt who were also invited to the festivities. "Care," the former quarterback exclaims as he spots the vampire for the first time in years. He embraces her tightly before stepping back to get a good look at the woman. "You look great. Who knew you'd look the best out of us at 38," Matt jokes as Caroline takes in the aging man.

She looks at Matt and Tyler who'd spent the last two decades aging along with Bonnie. Both are showing strong lines on their faces from time and their hands are gaining slight wrinkles as both men prepare to enter their 40s in the next few years. Caroline's gaze moves to the mirrored wall nearby examining her perfect skin, and though she dresses older and appears to have matured, she's still the 17 year old that was turned 20 years ago.

"Well I mean immortality has its perks when it comes to having perfect skin forever," she jokes while reaching for a glass of champagne on a tray nearby. "So I hear that you moved to Texas?" Caroline looks to Matt as he nods in confirmation.

"Yeah I did about 6 years ago, and it was one of the best decisions I could have made. They offered me a job in the police department in Houston and it was something I couldn't refuse, especially since it got me out of Mystic Falls and away from hunting vampires." Matt smiles as he pulls out his phone to show Caroline the image of an adorable little boy on his screen. "That's John, but now he's a little taller and just hit the double digits last month. Penny is home watching him while I'm here," he smiles at the mention of his longtime girlfriend and their son.

Crossing arms she laughs as Tyler slaps a hand on his friends shoulder, "and somehow you're still not married to that girl. You have a kid together, you live together, and she moved across the country to settle down with you. If Stefan Salvatore and Rebekah Mikaelson could get married and have their happy ending then so can you."

"What about you Tyler?" Bonnie probes as she smirks at the werewolf who'd kept his lips shut tight about a love life. "You live in Tennessee now with a wolf pack so I'm sure you've met a lot of eligible hot ladies."

"Of course I have, they're just not real relationships." His voice drifts off as he feigns someone calling his name and quickly exits from the group conversation.

Caroline giggles lightly at the former cocky werewolf fleeing the scene. "I'm sure he will tell us the minute he finds the one, and then I'll come back to visit you all again." She sighs as she thinks back to the ceremony just an hour before. The way her eyes had found Klaus in an instant, and his own blue orbs had met hers with an intensity that hadn't dwindled even after decades apart.

Part of her had always thought that he moved on eventually and out of friendship kept sending her letters on her birthday. She mourns the loss of her box of belongings with the crumbling of her home just a short week ago. Her thoughts quickly draw her back into the memories she shared with the hybrid, and every moment they'd shared flashed in her mind. If he'd promised to wait however long it takes for her to be ready for him, what if she never was ready? There was a finality in his promise of last loves and forever, and somehow that scared the young girl within more than she'd like to admit. And yet when she saw Stefan watching his now wife walking down the aisle without a second glance to anyone else, she knew that she'd always wanted someone to look at her that way.

"Great after party," an unfamiliar voice sounds from beside her. Caroline turns to face a young girl - human from her heartbeat - with auburn hair and piercing blue eyes. She seems to be no older than her teenage years, but everything about her is familiar in a way.

The blonde nods in return as she leans against the bar she'd walked over to, "yeah it is and the food is to die for." Caroline sets down her champagne glass and calls over the bartender for something stronger as her eyes find Klaus Mikaelson in the sea of people once more.

"So how do you know the bride," The young girl inquires.

She shakes her head, "I know the bride and the groom, but I grew up with the groom when I was human some two decades ago. He was my best friend once upon a time," her voice drifts off in a reminiscing way that causes the younger girl to look at Caroline with curiosity.

"Care to elaborate?"

Caroline chuckles, "not if I want to find my arms ripped off by the bride. She and I weren't too close when we knew each other."

"Ah...I see. So you were the other woman," she smirks at Caroline.

"No, I mean yes, but also no. Stefan and I were together but that was years ago. It's been almost 13 years since I last saw him actually. So when I got the invite to their wedding I was shocked that he even wanted to invite me," Caroline fibs through her teeth knowing very well that Tyler sent her the invitation without Stefan's knowledge.

The young girl stretches out her hand to shake Caroline's with a bright smile on her lips, "I'm Hope by the way." Her eyes go wide as she shakes her hand realizing who she'd been talking to.

"Hope Mikaelson?" She knows the answer to her question already, but the need to ask outweighs her logic that there's only one girl named Hope that would've been invited to this wedding. Hope nods as Caroline shakes her hand and simply replies, "Caroline Forbes. It is a pleasure to meet you Hope." The two share a smile and short words before parting ways agreeing to meet once more before Caroline leaves town again.

Klaus stands against the wall nursing a glass of bourbon as he watches the party from a distance. He occasionally listens in on others conversations and says a few words to familiar faces passing by, but ultimately he remains unnoticed. His stare lands several times on the blonde vampire floating around the room mingling with her old friends, and he can't help but admire how beautiful she'd become over the years.

Granted, Caroline was always beautiful to him, but this was a different kind of beauty. One that had been aged like a fine wine and was waiting for someone to take a drink from it's perfection. Klaus shakes his head as he tries to rid his mind from the thoughts of Caroline Forbes, but his ears fail him yet again. He tunes into the conversation she shares with Tyler Lockwood as the pair catch up with the quarterback. Apparently no one had seen Caroline in over a decade as she'd been travelling the world.

He wonders if she'd travelled to the cities he once mentioned to her in Mystic Falls, but those thoughts are quickly squashed as Elijah comes up to his side. "You're stalking brother," he states.

"No on the contrary Elijah I'm being observant of all the guests. Our sister deserves the best wedding possible, and that means no outbursts from the scooby gang that somehow got invited." Klaus takes another gulp of his bourbon and then refills the glass from the container nearby.

His brother places a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention, "if that were the case Niklaus you would have been focusing on everyone at the party and not just Miss Forbes." Klaus rolls his eyes and tries to ignore his elder brother who continues to stand nearby like a fly that wouldn't leave him alone. "If I remember correctly she's the one you've sent letters to for the last twenty years in October?"

"How did you know about those?"

"We all live under the same roof Niklaus, you'd think secrecy was extinct in this family after a thousand years." Elijah sighs and pats him on the shoulder once more, "enjoy the party, and perhaps talk to the lady as well?"

When he returns to his observation of the party, Caroline is nowhere in sight, but then he hears her laugh in the distance. Just across the room their eyes connect for a split second and then she returns to the conversation with the woman next to her, which just so happened to be his daughter.

Klaus had often wondered how well the blonde would get along with Hope, and if Hope would even like Caroline. Now as he watches the pair laugh and joke of random things for a few short minutes, he knows the two women were somehow meant to be friends.

The sun had long set and somehow the party at the Mikaelson compound remained in full swing. Music blaring, lights dimmed, drinks everywhere, and the occasional drunken idiot attempting to hit on Caroline. Rolling her eyes at the vampires nearby she retreats up the stairs in search of a quiet bathroom. She checks her phone seeing the texts from Bonnie who had previously returned to the hotel to call her family for bedtime, but for some odd reason Caroline had decided to stay and party for a while longer.

Now looking at the rager going on downstairs, she sorely regrets that decision. As she wanders the halls of the home she's grabbed by someone and pulled into a side room. Immediately she has her captor against the walls prepared to attack, but she backs off when her eyes meet Hope's. "What is this about Hope?" Caroline questions as she smells the strong and familiar scent of sage and spots another blonde woman across the room.

"We need to talk Caroline," she states as she goes to pull out her grimoire from a shelf nearby.

Her brows scrunch in confusion wondering what this young witch could want. "About what? We just met a few hours ago, and I have no clue who this is over there." She gestures to Freya who'd just stood to her feet after completing what appears to be a privacy spell.

"I need to know how you're alive when just a week ago I watched you die."

Ingrid wandered around the unfamiliar streets of Mystic Falls, and found it quite strange how she'd ended up in this small town. Having come from London and travelled to Israel and yet somehow she now stands on American soil, and part of her was glad to be here. To be done with her never-ending searching for who her parents were, and to be doing something exciting and adventurous in her life. Something that was just for her, and she liked that.

Walking into the Mystic Grill she wanders over to the bar to pick up an order she'd previously called in, and just as she goes to leave something odd catches her eye. Ingrid watches in fascination as she sees a younger looking Caroline standing across the room with tears in her eyes. She stands silently watching the scene play out as an older man tells her that he's leaving town for good, and she can't come with him. Her head tilts in confusion as Caroline calls out to the man as her dad, and as quickly as the scene is there before her eyes it's gone.

She looks around the grill to discover life had carried on the past few minutes as if nothing had occured in the dimly lit space. Shaking the moment from her thoughts, she turns and exits the grill; but that doesn't bring much relief either. As she walks outside to see the starry night above her she looks around frantically and notices her watch reading 3 in the afternoon, "this isn't right."

Ingrid shakes her head trying to figure out how she could see the stars and the night sky so clearly at this time of day. Looking down at the ground and closing her eyes tightly she opens them once again to see the light of day had returned, and all was normal. In a panic she rushes towards the rental car Caroline had got them and speeds back to the Forbes residence.

The air was cold and damp in the bayou of New Orleans, and he feels the cool breeze against his bare back. Whilst stretching out his sore muscles, he moves to find a stack of clean clothes in a bag nearby. "You ought to be more careful Isaac," a voice says from behind him and he turns to see the alpha of the Crescent Wolves. "Someone catches you turning at will and they'll ask questions that I don't know the answer to."

Isaac eyes her as she's dressed in casual clothes now, but her hair and makeup seem out of place from the rest of her look. "I can take care of myself Hayley," he states whilst pulling his shirt over his head. "No one knows who I am or what I can do, and if they did I could easily get rid of them and the problem."

"Yeah I'm sure you can take care of yourself Isaac, but the minute

someone gets hurt I know to find you." The she wolf crosses her arms taking on an alpha stance that demands authority and respect from wolves and humans alike. She sighs though dropping her shoulders and moving closer to the young man, "I know I've said this too many times. You live in New Orleans now, and you're a wolf whether you have a special ability or not - you're always welcome in our pack Isaac. You will always have a family with us if you want it."

Hayley Marshall smiles at the man before turning and walking away. Leaving Isaac alone in the bayou once again, and the sound of the animals the only thing to keep him company. 'You know she's lying,' the all too familiar voice speaks in the back of his mind.

He grips the sides of his head as his eyes turn an odd golden with specks of blue. "Get out of my head," his teeth are clenched tightly attempting to will the voice from his mind. Forcing the mysterious voice to loosen its hold on him.

'I will leave and return soon, but someday you will come to me Isaac.' The voice speaks and it fades away brining sweet relief to the young wolf, but that relief is short lived when he remembers that the voice promised to come back. And it's never broken its promises in over 15 years.

Caroline runs her fingers through her hair trying to gather her thoughts. Standing in front of her were two of the most powerful witches to exist - and they both just happened to be Mikaelsons. "I don't even know entirely how it happens," she starts with and plops down onto the couch nearby. "It all started seven years ago when I joined a rebellion where I was against a tyrant vampire ruler. He murdered so many innocents, and did as he pleased...it was disgusting to watch."

"And yet you stayed in the town? Why not leave and move onto a more peaceful life without the supernatural war?" Freya questions the blonde vampire, but all three women immediately know the reason why Caroline chose to stay.

"It was home, and I couldn't leave the people that had so quickly become like family." She sighs thinking back on Ethan's first encounter with her over a decade ago. He'd been such a light in her life when she had felt so alone for a time. Shaking the reminiscing thoughts from her head, she continues. "Anyways, I decided to stay and join the rebellion there to take down Cyrus - the vampire ruler guy. Eventually we went to throw a coup one night, but we were caught. Someone had alerted Cyrus of our plans, and it was a bloodbath. So many lives were lost on both sides that night...including mine. That was the second time I had died in my life; the first being when I was turned."

"So you dying has happened before?" Hope wonders what's so special about this young vampire that she could somehow beat death just like an original. "It sounds almost like how an original would be. Have you tried to test the death theory?"

Caroline nods her head as she grabs the glass of bourbon being offered by Freya. She chugs the whole drink quickly before moving on with her story. "Of course, I tried everything I could think of. After Cyrus killed me the second time with a stake through the heart, I woke up several hours later in a shallow grave with the rest of the rebellion that had died. Which is what allowed me to sneak back in and kill Cyrus...he never expected a baby vampire to come for vengeance and win." She smiles remembering the euphoria of the vampires final moments, and the intense feeling of power that'd weighed heavy on her.

"If you were just turned like a normal vampire, and no one performed any spells to altar your natural state...I have no idea how you came to be so indestructible." Freya quickly thinks over any spell that could give answers to what Caroline Forbes truly was, "and I'm also quite curious as to why my niece is somehow psychically connected to you."

At these words Caroline's interest piques, "you said Hope is connected to me? How? I had no knowledge of this." The news just delivered floors the blonde as she could've shared a connection with Klaus' daughter for who knows how long now.

"It's nothing really," Hope shrugs off the comments from the two other women in the room. "I've just been having these intense dreams for the last few months of you. Nothing major, but it's like glimpsing into your life...without seeing your face, hearing your name, or knowing where you are."

"Okay…" her voice trails off as she tries to process the idea that a teenager had been dreaming of Caroline's life for months now. "Hopefully you didn't see anything that could scar you for life," she chuckles nervously before relaxing when Hope shakes her head. "Is that how you knew I died recently?"

"I saw it happen, your heart being ripped from your chest. The creepy witches chanting...and your friend dying." Hope looks to the blonde sympathetically whilst Caroline looks at anything but the two others in the room. The young Mikaelson places a comforting hand on Caroline's knee, "we're going to figure this out. I believe that, and I also believe that you came to New Orleans for a purpose - one which we have yet to discover, but it is for a good reason."

Caroline chuckles thinking to herself, 'yeah I came here to see your father after almost 20 years apart.' Words she would never say aloud, or admit to herself. "Well this has been quite the experience, but I should head back to my hotel."

"You could stay here tonight," Freya adds before even processing what her siblings would say.

Fortunately the vampire shakes her head, "no it's fine. I came here with my childhood friend, she's a Bennett witch actually." The elder Mikaelson's interest rises at the familiar last name that was somehow famous in the witch community.

Hope stands to her feet as the other women do, "perhaps we could come back with you to figure out more details on why this is happening to us?" Caroline simply nods before quickly leaving the room and the compound altogether.

"Your father will never agree to us going to Mystic Falls Hope," her aunt shakes her head at the idea of Klaus' reaction to that request. " _But,_ we could go there under the ruse that you're touring the local college there. Which has a fantastic occult studies section," Freya smirks as her niece nods in agreement. Just like that the plan was formed.

"We're going to Mystic Falls."

 **Well I had planned to post this last night, but schedules got in the way - and that made me more determined to get it out tonight. I'm finally starting to get a decent layout of the story and a majority of the plot. I was unsure of how I wanted to finish it until a few days ago which I think I've finally settled on that too. I'm so glad to see your** **reviews and to know that you're all enjoying the story, buckle up because it's going to be a wild ride from here on out! I'm hoping to keep updating pretty regular like this (as I've mentioned before) but we'll see how that goes since college is also so very fun. The biggest thing for me is checking back through what I've written because I absolutely HATE plot holes and refuse to have them in my story...and I hope I don't let any slip by unnoticed as this progress.**

 **Anyways like always I don't own TVD/TO and please review with your thoughts!**

 **Always and Forever Fam ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Fate**

 **Chapter Five - Heart in a Box**

Caroline somehow escapes the compound without a word from the rest of the Mikaelson siblings. She'd also successfully avoided Klaus for the entire wedding, which is odd since she assumed he would have wanted to see her. It has been almost 20 years since they'd last spoken, but she quickly shakes off her insecurities about the hybrid.

As she sits in her hotel room alone she ponders over the meeting with Hope and Freya. Why had this connection between her and the youngest Mikaelson suddenly appeared? Could she be somehow connected to the Teacher? So many questions spiraled through the blonde's mind, but they're easily interrupted by the knock at her door.

"Room service," the voice states from the other side as Caroline opens the door. The man rolls in a cart, but doesn't say a word. Simply backing out and leaving.

Confusion fills her, but also the heavy sense of dread. Carefully and slowly she lifts the lid to the single plate on the tray. "Oh my God," she states as the breath leaves her undead lungs. There sitting on the plate is a single heart and a note right above it.

' _Caroline, please accept my gift to you. The heart you so missed the last week, and I hope you don't mind my borrowing it. We will meet soon.'_

The note was unsigned, but she knew exactly who it was from. The Teacher had somehow in someway found her all the way in New Orleans. "How is this even possible," she questions to no one in particular before looking back at the heart. His note had clearly said that it was a heart she'd missed for a week. 'Did he seriously keep my heart as a souvenir?' She shakes her head in disgust, but a thought quickly occurs.

"I wonder…" with a deep breath she stick her hand into her own chest in search of her heart. Caroline's eyes grow wide when she finds an empty space where her own heart should sit, and immediately she looks down at the one on the table. Without a second thought she picks it up and shoves it into her chest.

A loud gasp escapes past her lips as she feels the heart begin to pump blood through her body. She wonders how she even survived the last week without it, and what happened when she drank blood. So many questions raced through her, but they were halted by a voice.

"Care are you alright?" Bonnie's voice comes from the door between their two hotel rooms. She'd almost forgotten the witch was just next door.

"Yeah I'm fine! Just exhausted...night Bonnie," she winces at her terrible excuse to her friend. 'Oh well, that's the best I got' she thinks to herself.

"Alright then...night." Just like that she hears the soft click of Bonnie's lamp turning off and the sound of sheets ruffling as the Bennett climbs into bed.

"Absolutely not!" Klaus exclaims as he looks to his older sister and his daughter. The pair having somehow gotten the idea to travel to Mystic Falls in the next two weeks. "No way is my daughter stepping foot in that cursed town," his anger is uncontainable at the idea of the only child he had leaving the one home she'd had in 18 years of life.

"Dad I can't stay here forever," Hope throws her hands up motioning to the compound around them. "This place, these people, have been my home for my entire life. Don't turn it into a prison that I can't ever leave," her eyes plead with the father that'd let her have her way too many times in life. She knew he would relent if she pressed him.

Her mother stands to the side watching the two argue back and forth, and knowing she should intervene at some point or another. "Hope, I have to agree with your father on this one." She states watching her daughter's eyes go wide.

'Unbelievable," she exclaims throwing her hands up looking at her parents in bewilderment. "All I want to do is tour the college nearby, and besides dad grew up there. I should learn the history and get to experience the town at least once." The young Mikaelson attempts to reason with the pair, but nothing seems to get past them.

"The answer is still no Hope," her mom says once again as the parents who usually have different opinions choose to stand together for once.

Someone clears their throat in the doorway causing the three to turn their attention to Freya standing there. "I know you don't care for the idea of Hope going there, and she is my niece so I'm just as concerned for her safety as you are. What if I joined her on this little road trip? Two powerful Mikaelson witches together, I'm sure we will be perfectly safe then. Plus I could keep an eye out for her and make sure to check in with you guys on the hour." Freya raises her brows looking at the two parents whose walls were slowly dropping - Hayley's quite faster than Klaus's.

He clenches his jaw knowing he's been cornered by reason, "you call on the hour every hour. I want to know your every move and if I don't hear from you I will personally come to that godforsaken town and drag the two of you back home. Then Hope will never see the outside of this home until the day I die...which will be never since we are immortal." He smirks and the threat hangs in the air which causes Hope to shudder imagining never leaving the compound again.

The next day as Caroline packs her bags to leave for Mystic Falls, she hears a soft knock on her door. "It's open Bonnie," she calls out to the witch, but watches as instead Freya and Hope Mikaelson enter her rooms. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're going to Mystic Falls with you, remember we talked about this last night. I want answers as to why we share a connection," Hope says as she looks to the suitcase neatly packed on the bed nearby. Her eyes catch a note in the trash bin nearby for a moment, but she doesn't think on it further.

"That and I think there's more to this story than we all know." Freya crosses her arms examining the blonde before her. Over the past two decades she'd been with her family she'd never heard a word of this Caroline Forbes until she'd been invited to the wedding, and now suddenly she's connected to Hope's dreams and some mysterious evil. Something wasn't adding up, and Freya had made it her personal mission to dissect who Caroline really was.

The blonde vampire sighs as she zips her bag closed, "alright. You can stay with me at my house. It's safer that way," she grabs her suitcase and purse before exiting the hotel room. The two women follow her down the elevator and out the hotel to find Bonnie waiting by the car. She sees the extra luggage in the car and shakes her head, "you knew?" The Bennett witch nods, "and you're alright with this?"

"Of course I am Care. They may be able to help in ways I could never imagine with this whole Teacher mystery, and besides the kids are starting back to school soon so they need some stability in their schedules." Bonnie shrugs her shoulders as she climbs into the driver's seat and cranks the car.

"Are you sure you don't have some private jet we could take?" Caroline questions to the women who'd situated themselves in the backseat of their rental car.

Hope shakes her head with a frown, "we do have a jet. The only problem is that my dad would know if you two got on the plane with us, which would raise a lot of suspicion."

Caroline's confused expression leads Freya to pick up where the youngest witch left off, "Klaus thinks we're heading to the Mystic Falls area so Hope can tour Whitmore College. He also has no clue that we know you besides our brief talks at the wedding, which means this stays top secret for now." The blonde nods her head in understanding and rotates back around to face the front as the four women settle into the quiet.

The long drive to the small town of Mystic Falls was eventful to say the least. Two witches, a vampire, and a hybrid - there were quite a few stories to go around while passing time. Hope spent a majority of the time asking Caroline, and occasionally Bonnie, about their time with her father all those years ago. While the Bennett witch seemed reluctant to tell the young woman about the terror of a man Hope called 'dad,' Caroline shared fonder memories that left a sad nostalgic smile on her lips. A smile that didn't go unnoticed by the others in the car.

As far as Bonnie knew, it had been over a decade since Caroline had been romantically tied to a man. After Stefan the blonde vampire seemed to have given up on love and moved onto finding adventure in life. She certainly did that from hearing her stories over the last weeks. "So Caroline, how far out are we?" The young Mikaelson questions as she leans forward to peer at the the vampire behind the wheel.

She raises a brow at Hope, "we should be there within the next hour tops. Be warned my house hasn't been lived in for almost two decades. So I apologize in advance for anything that might not work." Caroline smiles slightly as she looks back at the Young hybrid in her backseat.

When they arrive back in Mystic Falls, the three say their goodbyes to Bonnie as she is welcomed home by her husband and children. "Well, onto the Forbes resistance now," the blonde vampire states as she puts her car in gear and makes the drive towards the street she once knew as home, and the place she was all too familiar with.

As the trio pull into the driveway, Freya and Hope climb out of the car to grab their bags; but Caroline remains seated behind the wheel. She stares at the front porch, the yellow house with the cute window on the front door. A shallow, shaky breath leaves her lungs as the memories of her childhood floods the small space. "Caroline? You coming or not?" Hope states as she knocks on the car window to grab the blonde's attention.

"Uh yeah, I'll be right there. You two go ahead," she states as she looks away quickly to blink away the tears that had been welling in her eyes. Once the two are safely at a distance she speaks again, "alright Caroline, you can do this. The memories are all you have left of your family - hold onto them." With a heavy heart, she closes her eyes and exits the car. Slowly walking up the steps of her front porch, noticing the familiar creaks and groans in every piece of wood.

As Caroline steps into the home admiring the change of wall paint she'd made just before moving out years ago. The once green tone now a light grey to match the new furniture she'd purchased so long ago. Looking around she notices the sheets still covering a majority of the items in the house. Furrowing her brows in confusion, "Ingrid?" She calls out wondering why the redhead hadn't made herself more at home while she was gone.

"We're in the kitchen," the slightly recognized accented voice comes from down the hall as Caroline slowly walks towards their location. She takes her time looking at the pictures still hanging on the walls. The ones of her and her mom, and a few with her dad still in them. A rare photo of the three of them sits on a nearby table...she picks it up and stares at the dust covered frame. A small breath leaving her nostrils, this was the last picture her parents had taken with her before her dad died.

"Caroline?" The sound of footsteps comes from nearby as Hope comes to stand over the blonde looking at the image she holds. "Are those your parents," she questions looking from the blonde woman and the man with striking eyes and features. Each appearing just as strong as the vampire standing before her is.

"Yeah," her words are so soft that if Hope hadn't been standing right there she would've believed the woman to be merely sighing. "They were great parents...all things considered at least." Caroline blinks quickly brushing the water pooling her eyes away with a bat of her lashes. "Anyways what are you all up to?" She questions looking to the young witch beside her.

Shaking her head, Hope replaces her scowl with a smile. "We were actually helping Ingrid finish cooking some dinner. She cooked for us all since she heard we were arriving tonight," the Mikaelson girl eyes the kitchen wearily as the two smell the strong aroma coming from the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I'm probably a worse cook than Ingrid...quick question though." Caroline and Hope catch the attention of the other two in the room as they enter into the chaos of dishes and spices. "Was I the only person you dreamed of Hope? Or did you see anyone else in these weird psychic dreams of yours," the vampire says as she looks at Ingrid wondering what role she had to play in all of this. That girl didn't just stumble upon her home in Tel Aviv for no reason, and she was there the day the attack happened for a reason. There were certainly no coincidences...at least that's what Caroline believed in.

The women talked, laughed, and even drank a little that night. Memories and stories filled the air as the four became so comfortable with each other. A majority of the evening was spent uncovering the furniture that had been collecting dust for decades, and then cleaning things to Caroline's standard...well as much of her standard as they could achieve before exhaustion hit. Luckily everything was still in working order around the Forbes residence, and all the lights worked which was surprising to the blonde vampire. Maybe being home wouldn't be so bad after all.

It'd been a week since the two Mikaelson witches arrived in Mystic Falls. They'd all settled into a routine during the day of researching what they could about this 'Teacher' character as well as taking turns to get food from the Grill. "I'll be back in a little while you guys," Caroline's voice comes from by the door as she grabs her phone and keys. The group had just finished eating an early dinner and the blonde finally had mustered up the courage to visit her mother's grave.

"Hey mom," she awkwardly states as she walks up to the lone tombstone in the area. A small bench sits nearby and she slowly sits down to face the only object she has to talk to her mom now. "It's been too long I know, but I did finally get out of this town. Just like you told me to do...I hope I'm making you proud, but I also feel like I'm just royally screwing up this whole eternity thing. God I just wish you were here. To tell me what to do, or to travel the world with me." Her voice trails off as she ponders over what Liz Forbes would be saying in this moment if she were here.

Before Caroline can say more her phone rings loudly in the area. She digs it out of her pocket and looks oddly at the caller I.D. on the screen, "Tyler?" She questions as her longtime friend breathes heavily through the phone.

"Care, I need your help." He sounds more panicked than she'd ever heard him sound. "I'm back in Mystic Falls for the weekend, and there are hunters here."

"Slow down Ty. and I need you to explain better. What do you mean there are hunters here? I've been in town for a week now and I was back here before the wedding - I didn't hear or see anything that made me suspicious of hunters." Caroline stands from the bench looking down at her mother's grave and the fresh flowers she'd left there.

The sound of Tyler's footsteps moving on the ground can be heard through the phone as Caroline waits for him to say more. "They've been here a few years now, but don't normally cause problems. For some reason they're chasing me down...it's a full moon Caroline. I can't chain myself up or they'll kill me. And I definitely can't stay out in the open and turn...then I would just kill more people."

"Get to the Lockwood cellar now. I'm on my way," she hangs up the phone knowing her friend would listen to her. Sighing she looks around at the area one last time before flashing off into the woods. All the vampire could think was that she had to get to Tyler before the hunters did, and if not she'd be burying yet another person she loved. "Tyler!" She calls out as she arrived to the area where the wolf had first turned at.

Caroline looks up at the sky to see the moon rising, and sky darkened. She had to solve this problem quick and get out of here before Tyler turned. Having experienced the pain of a wolf bite she never wanted to go through that again...especially not a third time. Shaking her head she runs into the cellar where he's waiting for her.

"I think I lost them because I ran pretty fast and tried to shake them off my trail, but I don't know how long we have before they realize where we went." His frantic pacing looks so different from the once confident and cocky man she knew. 'I guess decades really do change people,' she thought to herself as she brings her mind back into focus.

Nodding she shuts the wooden door at the bottom of the steps. "Alright well I guess you're going to have to turn here. I'll stand guard and make sure you're safe, but we have to move fast. Do you have any of your old stuff here?" She questions looking around behind the metal bars where the werewolf would stay for the night. He was already showing the signs of turning, and that made the blonde more nervous than she'd like to say.

Tyler's eyes were glowing their golden shade and flickering back to brown every so often as shocks of pain flared through his body. The adrenaline began pumping through his vessels preparing him for the bone breaking that was to come. "Get out of here Care. This isn't going to be pretty and you're a vampire." He clutches his abdomen as a wave of pain washes over him.

The vampire steps back at the sound of the first bones cracking, but she's met with a wall instead of the metal gate she's supposed to be on the other side of. Their eyes widen as Caroline turns to bang on the invisible wall that'd just appeared out of nowhere. "I can't get out…" her voice trails off as the familiar stench of witch fills the air. "Dammit!" She exclaims banging her fists against the barrier as she pulls her phone out in hopes of reaching someone that could get her out.

"Anything?" Tyler questions through gritted teeth as the bones in his body begin to break at a more rapid pace. He steps back as far away from Caroline as he can get in that small enclosed space, but if the barrier didn't lift soon he would tear his ex-lover to shreds before the night ended.

"No service," she growls out in frustration as she sends a text to Hope and Freya...really anyone she could think of. None of them go through and so she throws the device at the stonewall in anger watching as it shatters from the force. "It's ok," she says calmly as she faces the half turned wolf before her. "Just focus on turning and don't fight it...I'll be alright Ty."

The next hour is filled with the first howls of Tyler's wolf as he growls at the vampire trapped in the small space with him. Caroline's screams could be heard from above ground as the werewolf pounced on her quickly taking the blonde down with a bite to the shoulder. She bangs her hands against the barrier yet again as the wolf clamps his jaws down on her leg with a force that shatters bone.

This process continues on for what feels like an eternity. Caroline attempting to get free and failing, Tyler biting her again and again, and the screams coming from the cellar that slowly grow quieter. The air stills as everything in the forest becomes eerily quiet. Down in the Lockwood cellar the coughs and pleas for help can be heard as Caroline leans against the barrier begging anyone to save her from the wolf she's trapped with.

She'd managed to injure Tyler just enough to get him to back off for a while, but if this wall didn't drop soon he'd be back for more. Her labored breathing gives way to coughs wracking her body and blood coming up…soon the fever would overtake her body. Examining what she can see the blonde spots 6 different bites all over her body, and her clothes were ripped and damaged beyond repair. Resting her head against the cool metal bars Caroline lets her eyes droop and exhaustion creep in. Death wasn't too bad, and she always seemed to come back. Hopefully this would be the same.

A shaking fills the space as the werewolf backs into a corner fearfully looking around for the source of the quake. Caroline's eyes widen as she sticks her hand through the doorway that was once sealed, and she quickly pulls herself to her feet and shuts the gate behind her. It was dark, the full moon was out, hunters were in the woods, but all she knew was she needed to get home. As the blonde vampire stumbles through the woods blindly, she trips over branches and various objects.

After a while she loses track of which way is home and which way isn't. Every direction becomes confused as her vision blurs and a wave of dizziness hits her. Clutching her head she hopes the feeling will pass, but it doesn't; and she falls quickly to the ground. Lying on her back she can stare up at the dark sky with stars illuminating the woods, and the bright full moon directly above. In the distance she could hear someone calling her name, "mom?" She questions before everything goes dark and the venom finally overtakes her body.

 **I'm really proud that I'm keeping my promises to update like this regularly, but it's probably so easy because I've already written up to chapter six at this point. Hopefully I can finish the next few chapters over the rest of the week/end so we can keep this steady pace, but I don't wanna compromise quality for fast updates so bear with me if the updates slow down after chapter 7. I have tons of ideas for this story and need to get them all laid out.**

 **So glad you guys are reviewing and enjoying the story! Your questions should be answered soon (maybe) about who Ingrid is and how Hope and Caroline are connected etc. and I promise Klaroline will come into the fold at some point in the near future. This will hopefully be a good slow burn because Caroline has grown over the past twenty years into an even more strong and independent woman who doesn't need a man. But she's also built up walls around her old insecurities and only Klaus will be able to tear those walls down...at least that's what I have planned in my head. We'll see how that unfolds.**

 **I don't own TVD/TO blah blah blah please comment, favorite and follow; and tell your Klaroline fan fiction friends about this story if you feel like sharing this hopefully masterpiece (insert sarcasm here).**

 **Always and Forever 3**


	6. Chapter 6

**Fate**

 **Chapter Six - Death and the Maiden**

When Hope had found Caroline in the woods she couldn't believe what her own eyes were seeing. The once vibrant blonde looked pale, and she smelled of death. Her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat as the fever raged within, and bite marks covered every inch of visible skin. "Oh my god," she whispered as the witch dropped her flashlight to crouch in front of her newfound friend. "Freya!" Hope calls to her aunt who wasn't too far away as the other two residents at the Forbes home approach.

"Call my dad now," Hope states as she continues to look down at Caroline's face. "She's dying aunt Freya!" The young girls shouts for help seem to break Freya out of her stupor as she pulls out her phone and dials her brothers number.

"Niklaus," she states through the phone as a shaky breath comes behind it. "You need to get to Mystic Falls...it's Caroline Forbes." The eldest Mikaelson didn't have to say another word as the call ended from Klaus's side and she knew immediately they'd have a lot of explaining to do when the hybrid arrived...hopefully in time to save Caroline's life.

When Klaus answered the call from Freya the panic in her voice was far from what he'd expected. He was anticipating the usual phone calls they'd been doing this past week where his sister and daughter check in and remind him that they're just fine…but this was far from fine. They were with Caroline, and in Mystic Falls which meant the pair had obviously lied about their intentions for leaving town. Walking out of the bar he looks up to the night sky to see the full moon above, and immediately he knows the exact reason why they called him.

Caroline would never call him for help, and the only way she would is if she was bitten by a werewolf. He shakes his head quickly flashing across town to find his car. 'Always finding trouble,' he thinks to himself as he recalls the last time he'd encountered the vibrant blonde vampire. And the last time he'd witnessed her under the effects of the deadly venom. Even after eighteen years apart he still felt the rush of adrenaline and fear coursing through his body at the thought of Caroline Forbes no longer existing in this world. The idea of never hearing her voice again, sending her those letters on her birthdays, and the opportunity of 'however long it takes' disappearing terrified the hybrid more than he'd like to admit.

That's why Klaus didn't pack any bags, didn't say a word of goodbye to his siblings. All he did was call the airport to have his plane ready in half the time they usually have it ready. If he had to kill people to get to Mystic Falls faster than supernaturally possible, he would. 'It was all for you Caroline,' the words he'd once shared to her ring out in his mind as he recalls the times he'd shown human emotions no one had seen from the mighty Klaus Mikaelson...and it was all for her.

Even when he arrives at the airport and darts for his private jet, he's impatiently tapping his foot waiting for takeoff. "This plane better be off the ground in less than 5 minutes or I will fly it myself. Which I hope you all know that wouldn't end good for humans," his tone cuts through the air instilling fear in everyone working the plane. Their legs seem to move at a faster pace knowing the hybrid would carry through with his threats as they'd seen him do so many times before to guests on the plane.

In Mystic Falls, the three women had somehow managed to drag Caroline out of the woods and back to the Forbes residence. The blonde vampire being in a complete stupor now that the hallucinations were finally setting in. Freya and Hope had placed her on the couch to keep a close eye on her in hopes that she wouldn't try to leave and cause chaos in the town. Eventually they'd had to place a spell on Caroline so she couldn't leave the couch, but that didn't stop the vampire from thrashing around in pain and crying out for people that were long gone.

' _Caroline, Caroline!' A voice calls from what seems like far away as a set of hands wrap around her arms to hold her form still. Her wide blue eyes search for the sound but find none. Finally something causes her to look dead ahead at the mirror before her, and the eyes that match her own. Yet somehow they don't belong to her, or the new Caroline at least. 'You have to fight this Caroline,' the voice pleads from the mirror attempting to get the frantic blonde to focus her attention to staying alive._

" _I don't wanna fight anymore," the vampire states slowly as the tears well in her eyes. The realization dawning on her that she was so worn down and exhausted from the life she'd lived these last two decades. The constant fighting, dying, and everyone around her leaving one way or another. Somehow she'd never been able to pass on even in the times of death approaching her, and even now she knew that when the peace of the afterlife came it wouldn't welcome her._

" _Why is this happening to me!" Caroline cries out to the empty white space, surrounding her were white walls, ceilings, and floors. A single tall mirror placed in front of her that she looks into at the creature staring back. "I'm not strong enough for this...I never was." Her shoulders sag in defeat accepting that she was truly ready to pass on to peace._

 _A gentle hand touches her shoulder bringing her teary eyed attention elsewhere, "sweetie. You have always been strong, and brave. And beautiful inside and out...and I am so so proud of you Caroline."_

" _Mom…" The breath seems to leave her lungs at the woman standing before her. Completely healthy and happy. Nothing like the cancer riddled woman she'd seen in the days before her death years ago, "oh my God mom!" She throws herself into her mother's arms hoping to disappear in the embrace._

" _I've missed you," Liz Forbes pulls back from the tight hug to get a better look at her daughter. "This life was never meant to be easy Caroline. Even in eternity, but you have to fight. There are things out there that I can't tell you about, but darkness is coming soon. You and your friends have to be ready to face that, and they won't survive it without you."_

 _She shakes her head, "but I want to stay here with you." Liz places a gentle hand on her daughter's cheek and wipes away the stray tears with her thumb. "I don't want the responsibility of saving the world or whatever it is this darkness is coming for. I'm not special enough for that...I'm just a girl that was turned into a vampire as a war casualty."_

" _No," Liz's words are firm as she stares into Caroline's eyes with determination that the vampire had only seen a handful of times in her life. "You are special and so much more my sweet Caroline." The former sheriff looks up at the sound of booming footsteps, "we're running out of time."_

" _Please don't go mom. I don't want to say goodbye again," she grasps onto her mother begging whatever force held them there to allow them to stay. As the room begins to shake and the illusion shifts her mom whispers one last thing in her ear before vanishing._

"Where is he!?" _A voice calls off from the distance that sounds like Hope. Maybe the witch had called her father for help. "Klaus…" Caroline smiles at the thought that he still cared enough to come to her rescue._

"Caroline please stay with me," Hope shouts as the blonde on the couch begins to cough up blood and the hand the witch is holding turns grey. "No, no no!" The young Mikaelson stands to her feet in panic as the blonde vampire begins to desiccate, "Freya. Freya!"

No answer comes and her hope begins to fade as she sits down once again by the woman she'd grown quite accustomed to recently. "Klaus…" the word leaves Caroline's lips so silent that only Hope seemed to hear it. She leans closer to hear if the vampire would say anything else, but all she heard was a small breath leaving her lungs and everything in the room stilled.

The grey veins worked their way up Caroline's body until every visible inch of her was covered in them. And a sob was heard from behind Hope as she turns around to see Ingrid sliding to the floor against the wall. None of them could believe their eyes as the seemingly indestructible Caroline Forbes breathed her last breath. "I can fix this," Hope states as she stands to her feet and moves around the house in search of her grimoires. "I have to fix this. She's Caroline she can't just be dead." The brunette moves in frantic motions around the house searching every book she can find for some way to bring back the vibrant blonde.

"Caroline," a soft voice whispers by the main entry to the living room. Hope turns with tears streaming down her cheeks to see her dad standing there looking down at the vampire that he was all too familiar with. His jaw is clenched, and for the first time in years Hope watches as tears well in her father's eyes. "What happened." Klaus's words are firm as he sets his mind to getting revenge on whoever did this to the first person to bring light into his life after centuries of darkness.

"We don't really know. When we found Caroline it must have been an hour after she'd texted us all. She was delusional by then and couldn't give anyone a proper answer...dad you can do something right?" The daughter looks to Klaus begging him to say yes, but they both know it's too late. "Please say you can fix this dad." Hope pleads with him knowing this couldn't be the end of Caroline's story.

"I don't think I can this time sweetheart," his words are just above a whisper as he crosses the room to embrace his daughter. She merely collapses in his arms as the tears freely flow.

"This isn't right, it's not fair!"

"I know littlest wolf, I know." All Klaus knew was that he was going to have to bury Caroline Forbes and that it was definitely in no way, shape, or form fair.

It was cold, the ground beneath her was hard; and something was definitely very off. Caroline slowly opens her eyes to see dark walls all around her, the drip of water in the distance and the silence that followed that echoing sound. "Welcome back to the land of the living Caroline," an unfamiliar voice calls from nearby.

Whipping her head in the direction of the sound she sees a shadow just beyond a wall of bars. A cage, just great. "Why am I here?" She questions the shadow as he merely chuckles.

"This has been a long time coming. Do you realize how long I have waited for this day my dear Caroline?" His words cause the hairs on her arms to stand erect and strike fear in her heart.

"No I wouldn't know that because I have no clue who you are," she rolls her eyes hoping her attempt at brushing off the dude would work.

It doesn't. "You know who I am. I've been haunting your dreams for decades now, and when the Other Side collapsed I deployed my accolades to deliver my message to you. We have too much history for you to not know who I am."

"I think you're going to have to give me more backstory Mr.," the blonde crosses her arms looking at the shadow of a man that has remained in the unseen since her awakening.

"Look in the mirror Caroline," confusion floods as she looks around for the supposed mirror in the room. Finally her eyes land on a small one on a wall. "That is how you're here darling," the mans words fill Caroline with rage.

Turning around she glares at the shadow wishing for nothing more than to strangle him. "What did you do to me witch?"

He steps forward only slightly so she can see his hands raised up in a mock surrender. "I merely placed you in a temporary body until I can acquire your real one. That hybrid is determined to give you a proper burial in the town you call home."

"Klaus," her eyes widen thinking of how she'd thought of him just before. "I died...again."

"Ah yes I was wondering when you would remember that. My apologies for the messiness, werewolves can be so temperamental on the full moon."

"You did this to me? What did I ever do to you!" Her answers aren't given though as the man turns and walks away in the shadows whistling as if taunting her. "Tell me what you know," she screams grasping onto the metal bars shaking them as hard as her human vessel would allow her to.

It's been four days. Four long, torturous days since Klaus Mikaelson had broken his promise to leave Mystic Falls. Since he'd walked into Caroline's living room to find her greyed body and his distraught daughter. It's been one day since they'd informed the Bennett witch of Caroline's death and held a small funeral for the unforgettable woman.

"She was supposed to outlive me," Bonnie had said as the realization that her vampire friend was truly dead.

The funeral had been a somber affair as Hope clung to her father letting the tears flow freely. Freya stood back attempting to hold herself together for her family despite a woman she'd grown to like having perished in a terrible way. Bonnie stood and told stories of her childhood memories with the blonde, but could barely hold herself together when her two children began to shed tears for the loss of their 'aunt Caroline.'

Tyler had shown up at some point during the funeral which only brought chaos as the original hybrid launched at him the minute he came in the area. "This is your fault," Klaus had said gripping the Lockwood wolf by the collar of his shirt. "What makes you think you don't deserve to be skinned alive right now. I've shown mercy on your life far too many times to count in the last few decades, and now Caroline isn't here to stop me from seeking vengeance. I'm sure she would appreciate it since you killed her."

His hybrid features had emerged during his threats as he moved to hold Tyler against a tree by his throat. Squeezing just hard enough to cause panic in the regular werewolf. "Enough!" Bonnie shouted as she used her magic to fling the two apart. "This is Caroline's _funeral_ , don't disrespect her by bringing out old quarrels." With that the witch had struck a chord with everyone and merely turned to take her children home. They would mourn in private away from the vampires lurking.

"I'm sorry," Tyler fell to his knees in front of Klaus. "I deserve death for this. She was only trying to help me and these witches came out of nowhere...and we were trapped in this cell. If I could go back and change things, or take her place I would." His dark brown eyes meet the man he'd spent so much time trying to kill years ago, "if you want to kill me here's your shot." Surprising to everyone left standing there the hybrid merely shakes his head and flashes off into the distance. Which abruptly ended their memorial service.

This whole ordeal was one huge mess, and now Hope stood with Ingrid as the pair were preparing to leave Mystic Falls. New Orleans being the next stop and the redhead had agreed to go with the Mikaelson's since they'd bonded as of recent. "You can stay with us until you decide what to do next. You're always welcome in our home Ingrid," the young witch had said placing a comforting hand on Ingrid's shoulder.

And so she'd agreed to leave behind the place she'd been dragged to by a woman she'd just buried. If only she knew this is how her life would turn out when she left home...maybe she would've stayed.

Time seemed to pass in a haze for the four people returning from Mystic Falls. Hope had taken to drawing in her room and bonding with Ingrid, while Freya took to the more conservative route - avoiding the whole situation. Klaus on the other hand became volatile. As the days passed following their return to New Orleans, his temper had spiked. Known for fits of rage, the Mikaelson family had learned to avoid him in the recent days. The hybrid could be found either in his room drinking and mourning over the blonde he'd lost or somewhere else trashing one of the rooms during his outbursts.

"Niklaus," his elder brothers voice cuts through the chaos as Klaus looks up from the destroyed room. "This has gone on long enough."

"No it hasn't 'Lijah. Someone I cared for very much died and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. What's next my daughter? My sister, or perhaps even you. We barely got Kol back with Davina's magic those years ago, and now I doubt anyone would be willing to help our family if we found ourselves in a war." The hybrid runs his fingers through his slightly longer hair, the curls being tousled by his hands.

Elijah clears his throat as he approaches his brother. "I understand your pain, I truly do Niklaus. Ms. Forbes was a remarkable woman from what I could tell, but you have a child to think of. Hope needs her father."

"She has you all to help her."

"She is spiraling Niklaus. You have to connect with her, and only you can do that. Her wolf nature is showing through as she's now older and that could mean her triggering the curse."

Klaus scoffs at his brothers words, "my daughter will be fine because she is a Mikaelson. We all have tempers."

"Yes she is a Mikaelson, and so are you. So get out of this...this funk and show her how a Mikaelson acts in the face of tragedy."

It's been days now that Caroline has been trapped in her cell. No food, no water, and not a single visit from the mystery man that'd trapped her in the first place. She'd tried everything she could think of to escape, and even attempting to kill the body she was in, hoping she'd wake again in her own skin - but everything failed. She spent more time in her cage screaming and cursing the person who'd locked her away in the last twenty-four hours than she had trying to get out.

At this point she had assumed that fate intended for her to learn something here. She just didn't know what exactly. Caroline huffs as she slumps against the wall, licking her dried and cracked lips. 'What was this guy doing? Starving her in a human body?' "Caroline," a voice whispers through the cool draft filling the area and the blonde sits up straight. "Caroline," the voice calls again.

"Who's there?" She questions whilst looking around for the source of the voice, but finding none.

"Remember," the voice says and it only brings more confusion to the woman. 'Remember what,' she thinks to herself. "Remember what Liz said in the place between death."

Her brows crinkle together as she ponders over how the voice could know of her experience with her mother. In the last decade Caroline had tested her theory that she was immune to death, and every time it'd proven true. It had been her little secret with Ethan for all those years, and then they'd discovered her other abilities.

The first time Caroline Forbes had looked inside someone's mind had been truly terrifying, but thrilling all in one blow. The smoke that emerged from her palms and encased the person struck fear in their heart that she could sense without even listening to the pounding of the flesh. Just like that she'd known that this person was a messenger of the Teacher coming to steal away one of her people, and the rage that filled her was indescribable. The smoke had turned an inky black and the alcolade had begun to scream in agony as lesions developed on his skin, and the smoke seemed to swallow him whole.

Ethan had shaken the blonde out of her trance state when the smoke had begun to pour out on the floor of the room. When it had receded there was nothing left in the chair but a pile of ash where the man had once sat. 'I'm a monster,' had been her first thoughts - and then the rush of power had come like a wave. She'd liked it…'we're the same Caroline.'

"Ugh get out of my head Klaus," Caroline hits her head in attempt to rid herself of the hybrid. She was trapped in a cell by a strange man in a human body she didn't know, and somehow her thoughts went to Klaus. 'Great,' she rolls her eyes pulling her focus away from the memories of her past. "Wait...what did my mom say?"

And the panic grows as Caroline searches every crack and crevice of her own mind for the memory of her last moment with Liz Forbes before waking in this body. "That son of a bitch wiped my memories."

It's been 10 days since they'd departed from Mystic Falls, and 12 since the burial of Caroline Forbes. The people that remained in the Mikaelson home knew to keep their distance from Klaus when they could, but he'd slowly begun to open back up. In the past few days he moved into his art studio to draw every detail of the blonde that had captivated him.

Every memory he could think of, even the bad ones, he drew them all. Committing her delicate features to memory, and begging the powers that be to never let him forget her. It was in those lone moments where he was undisturbed that the tears were allowed to escape. For the first time in a very long time Klaus Mikaelson shed tears of sorrow for the woman he'd lost, and the opportunities tossed away.

"You should be here...not in some grave or wherever it is that the dead vampires go now." His words are bitter as the anger in him rises by the second. The hybrid quickly sets down his artwork knowing if he held it for a moment longer it would be irreparably damaged. "Why'd you have to be so, so stupid Caroline!" He runs his fingers through his curls and tosses the pencil in his hand at the wall. It makes contact and sticks straight out stuck in the hard surface, "you should know by now to stay away from wolves on a full moon love." Chuckling the original stands to his feet and pours himself a drink. "And I'm talking like you can actually hear me right now, but I know you can't...and I wish you could."

Hope stands in her room with Freya as the pair sigh, "dad's spiralling."

"I know," Freya states as she looks up from the grimoire the pair were reading from today. "There's nothing we can do for him though. He's grieving in his own way, and all we can do is stay out of the way."

The young witch stands to her feet and begins to pace the floors, a habit she'd developed recently after spending her last week with Caroline doing the exact same thing. "We have to try something aunt Freya. Maybe there's a way we could contact Caroline and let her tell him she's alright..I don't know what, but there has to be something. I can't just sit here and pretend it never happened, I'm not you."

"I'm not pretending it never happened Hope. Despite what you may think I was actually starting to like Caroline, but if I allow myself to grieve right now this family would fall apart. So I will grieve when Niklaus decides to pull himself together," the eldest Mikaelson looks up at her niece seeing a similar spirit in her that she saw in Caroline. They were optimists, fighters, and those were a rare people in this world today.

A knock sounds at the door and it opens to reveal Ingrid standing awkwardly, "sorry to intrude. I know you guys were doing witchy stuff today." Her voice trails off, unsure of where to go next.

"No it's fine Ingrid you're always welcome in here," Hope pats the spot beside her on the bed and the redhead enters the room to take a seat beside the young woman. Really and truly, Hope was only two years younger than Ingrid and somehow the former knew so much more about life when it came to supernatural...maybe it was growing up in such a different environment. Perhaps if Ingrid had been raised by similar people she wouldn't be much different from Hope.

"I didn't just come here to hang out. I should have said something sooner, but I thought it could've been a fluke thing. It didn't make sense considering I just found out about all of this supernatural crap."

"Ingrid, calm down. Get to the point," Freya's hands are on the redheads shoulders looking curiously at her.

"I don't think Caroline's dead." Just like that chaos erupted in the Mikaelson home once again.

 **Well here it is!** **Chapter 6 is here, and it answered a few questions I believe. No Caroline is most definitely NOT alright considering she's trapped in someone else's body in some mystery location. For those of you who were hoping this would've been a Klaroline reunion I'm sorry to disappoint, but these two people have been apart for 20 years right now and it's not going to be easy finding their way back to each other let alone falling for each other...which will come eventually I promise.**

 **Anyways this chapter was kind of tying up the loose ends of Mystic Falls so we can officially transition to New Orleans as the main location. I love Matt and Tyler and the rest of the TVD people but this is a Klaroline story and it would be really annoying to write a bunch of filler scenes just so they could be there, and it wouldn't advance the plot at all. So as usual I don't own TVD/TO and if I did the finale of TO would've included Caroline and Klaus having a montage of some sort together...and all the Mikaelson's would've been happy just saying.**

 **Until next time, Always and Forever ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Fate**

 **Chapter Seven - Make This Go On Forever**

In the chaos that erupted after Ingrid's life altering words, no one noticed the familiar faces entering the compound. Not until Klaus was shoved against the wall and held by his throat by none other than Stefan Salvatore. Of course both men attempt to assert their dominance which only leads to more shouting and chaos. "Why didn't you call me?" Stefan screamed at the elder vampire as his grip tightens on Klaus's neck.

"You were on a honeymoon rippah, and besides I figured Rebekah didn't want to deal with your lingering emotions for Caroline at that moment." His words were intentionally crafted for hurt towards anyone and anything that was cornering him, and it always worked. "If I recall you married my little sister not even a week ago, and somehow your honeymoon was cut short because of Caroline..the woman you used to love. I think that calls some things into question about your feelings; don't you think so 'Bekah." Klaus angles his head towards his little sister who stands in the background with her arms crossed watching the showdown.

She shakes her head and lets out a huff, "unbelievable Nik. After all this time you still think I'd choose the wrong man. Stefan and I are married, we've had every discussion possible about Caroline and our past lovers. Low blow, but nice try anyways brother." As Rebekah rolls her eyes she grabs her carry on bags and retreats upstairs to her room. The honeymoon officially over now that the fights had begun.

"She's right Klaus, and whether you like it or not Rebekah is my wife and my family now. So whatever is going through your mind right now about Caroline and I, forget about it...that romance died a long time ago." Stefan looks away from the hybrid and loosens his hold as he steps back and a ragged breath leaves him.

Stefan stumbles back and the tears well in his eyes, "she was my best friend Klaus. And she died...no one told me. No one called me, and I didn't get to say goodbye." Before the hybrid could attempt what he calls an apology the young vampire had flashed upstairs to his shared bedroom with Rebekah.

"Good job Niklaus, always the lover." Freya cheers her brother on with dripping sarcasm from the balcony as she leans over the rails watching the scene below her. "Anyway while you were throwing a childhood tantrum we were trying to let Ingrid explain why she believes Caroline is actually alive. So if you would be interested in joining us," the eldest Mikaelson leaves her words hanging in the air as she too retreats to the room where all the magic happened in the compound.

In the seemingly quiet town of Mystic Falls, the things that go 'bump' in the night roam around under the cover of darkness. The streets are empty, the grill is full, and the football fields are gearing up for the first game of the year. Even the Salvatore house is unusually still, but the place that breaks the pattern is the cemetery.

A man stands over a freshly dug grave, shovel in hand, and dirt covering his clothes. "It's high time you were reunited with your body my sweet Caroline," the coffin is lifted out of the ground with the help of a few men and loaded into a truck. The hole is quickly re-filled and replaced like nothing happened there, but in reality an empty grave lay there with the tombstone of the one and only Caroline Forbes.

"Wait so let me get this straight, you think that Caroline's soul is trapped somewhere?" Klaus states as he paces the floors of one of the many rooms of the Mikaelson home. He chuckles and takes a rather large gulp of his bourbon before staring at Ingrid once again. "You know nothing about magic or the supernatural world...dead is dead most of the time."

Ingrid shakes her head and stands to her feet refusing to cower at the confidence this man exudes. "Exactly dead is dead, but _most_ of the time. I've watched Caroline die twice now in the last two weeks I have gotten to know her," Klaus's gaze snaps to the redhead at the words 'twice' but the woman shakes him off and continues. "Anyways, she told me that over the years she'd discovered this gift of indestructibility. A vampire that couldn't die, even with a stake to the heart. She mentioned something about tracking down the last...was it white oak I believe, and that didn't even work."

"Caroline has white oak?" Freya stands to her feet instantly as the worry for her family's safety overrides the desire to bring a friend back. "Did she say what she did with it?"

"Calm down aunt Freya," the youngest in the room places a calming touch on her aunts arm. "Caroline would never intentionally hurt us."

The redhead unfamiliar with the notion of what white oak was shakes her head and turns the attention back to her, "no she said once she realized it wouldn't work on her she destroyed it. I'm assuming it was to protect you all." She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair wondering how she got into this mess in the first place, 'oh right I was looking for my parents.' Ingrid blinks hard trying to refocus on the task at hand.

"If I'm understanding what Ingrid's saying, and please correct me if I am wrong. Caroline can't die, and even when she is 'killed' with things like stakes she comes back to life."

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying Hope," she sighs in relief that someone understood what she was saying. "I know that must seem impossible even for vampires, but I watched it happen with my own eyes. Her heart was ripped from her chest by some crazy witches and hours later she was fully functioning and pushing me onto a plane with her." The room sits astounded by the notion that a baby vampire seemingly unspecial in the supernatural aspect could be gifted with something even an original didn't have. True immortality.

"Did she mention anything odd as to why she would have crazy witches trying to kill her?" A new voice comes from the doorway as Kol Mikaelson stands there looking at the confused redhead, "my apologies darling I'm Kol, their black sheep of a brother. I'm also a little bit of a witch expert so spill please," the playful tone of his voice is confirmed as he jumps over the back of one of the couches to plop down in its seat.

Crinkling her brows and pressing her palm to her forehead, "she did actually. For a few years Caroline had been getting these letters and threats, which is why Freya and Hope were in Mystic Falls with us to research more on this topic. Someone who called themselves the Teacher?"

"Great. Just terrific," Kol leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. "This is just like Silas all over again." The Mikaelson's who were familiar with the Silas debacle stare at him waiting for a further explanation.

"Now might be a good time to gift us with your knowledge little brother," Klaus's impatience is clear by the way his jaw is tightened.

"If the teacher is involved in this we might as well abandon her and move on with our lives. Before we're all dead," Kol sits back nonchalantly as the rest of the room glares at him.

"Remind me why we resurrected you again?" Klaus states as he looks at his brother.

Kol sighs and leans forward, his elbows on his knees focusing on the pretty redhead in front of him. "Did you perhaps read the story about the Teacher love?" To this Ingrid timidly nods her head and the wily former witch smiles brightly. "Fantastic so that means there's one less person here I have to explain this to," Kol winks at her and a heated blush creeps up her cheeks like flames.

"Kol stop flirting and get on with it," Freya rests her head in her palm waiting for the real information to be delivered.

"Alright, alright as you wish," he jokingly holds his hands up in a mock surrender. "Legend has it that 2,000 years ago around the time of Silas there were 5 witches - some of the most uniquely gifted ones of that time. Each one possessed an ability that was just theirs, and their Teacher protected and guided them in these abilities. Despite being a mere Traveller himself, the man did all he could to train these students of his." Kol sighs and sits back as he recalls the times he'd heard the legend retold to him through the centuries. "The story goes that the Teacher one day grew envious of his student's gifts and wanted to claim them for himself. Become the most powerful being to walk the earth, and combined with the spell of immortality that Qetsiyah had just created he would be unstoppable."

"Get to the point brother," Klaus sips on his drink watching annoyed at the storytime he was having to endure.

The vampire glares at his brother before continuing, "as I was

saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted. The Teacher devised a plan to take Qetsiyah's immortality spell for himself and then sacrifice his students to steal their power. Trying to make this story short as possible, they discovered his plans and in a last act before their deaths they hemorrhaged enough magic to create two realms. One for their eternal power to watch over the supernaturals, and another to lock away their Teacher for all time."

"Of course like all villains he promised to escape," Ingrid chimes in smiling at the original sitting across from her.

Kol smiles at her as he leans forward once again, all of his focus on the redhead before him. "That's right. You are a smart one aren't you little red?" Ingrid smiles at the nickname she hadn't heard in years from her family. The moment quickly fades as Kol clears his throat and leans back once more putting up his tough guy facade. "Like this lovely person just stated he did vow to escape, and to do that it required one important ingredient. This may be legend passed down by covens, but I suspect it's more true than we know."

"Kol! Out with it already, we don't have time for your games," Klaus's anger is easily detected by the members of the room. They're all put slightly on edge as they tiptoe around him with his unstable temper.

"I am _getting there_ brother." Kol grits his words through his teeth as he huffs and rolls his eyes at his elder brother. "Legend has it that the Teacher needs the heart of his wife to escape his prison. It's what put him there in the first place so it would be what gets him out as well."

Hope chimes in as questions rise in her by the minute, "but Caroline is barely 40 years old. She wouldn't have any connection to this Teacher dude at all. Unless…"

The witch savvy Mikaelson smiles at his niece, "I see where you're going with that. No Caroline is not actually his 2,000 year old wife, but there are rumors that the Teachers wife had a secret child with her lover before she was married. Our dear Caroline very well could be a direct descendant of the Teacher's wife, which would explain why he's so interested in her."

"Yes what it doesn't explain is why my daughter is connected to Caroline. Or how to get her back," Klaus scowls deeply as he waits for someone to give him the answers he desires, but no one speaks up. "I'm going for a drink, call me when there's news." The hybrid quickly leaves the room and the tension fades slowly as he flashes out into the streets in search of some way to release his anger.

Freya sits in Rousseau's as Cami pours her a drink in the early afternoon, "that bad?" The bartender questions wondering what could be troubling the Mikaelson family this time. A few years ago the blonde psychologist had made the decision to turn into a vampire to be with Marcel which was an odd combination when many first saw them together. But now the pair mainly stuck to themselves by the docks in Marcel's place, and Cami continued to bartend on a regular basis.

The Mikaelsons and Cami had made an arrangement a decade ago where she would work at Rousseau's as the bartender and in exchange for protection for basically eternity she would trade them any information pertinent to the city's supernaturals. "Yeah...my family is always complicated, but these last few weeks have been on a different level of crazy." Freya gulps back her drink and sets the glass down motioning for the blonde to refill it.

"I get it, Klaus is your brother after all. What's more crazy than usual though? The wedding?"

She shakes her head downing the second shot, "no the wedding was fine. Minus a run in with an old family friend that my siblings used to know. Long story short is that she's in trouble and somehow it's connected to Hope, ugh" she sighs and lets her head hang down a little. "There's just so much death and destruction, and for the longest time we had a peace. But now...it's just different. I can't shake the feeling that death has been chasing my family for centuries and it's starting to catch up with us."

"I would call that paranoia Freya," the bartender places a gentle hand on top of Freya's. "Well not exactly paranoia, but you've survived more than any normal human could fathom. More lifetimes than I could even count on top of that...my point is that after all this time you finally have your family back together. Fear of losing them is normal, but don't let demons or problems or whatever it is get in the way of happiness. Even Klaus can be a little pig headed at times," Cami laughs and squeezes her friends hand before moving down the bar to serve a few more customers.

"Can I buy you a drink?" A random voice questions to her left as Freya turns her attention to the handsome man who'd just taken the seat beside her.

"Excuse me?"

The man shakes his head holding out his hand, "sorry I guess I should introduce myself before coming up and asking if I could buy you a drink. Dumb guy move," he smiles showing off bright white teeth that almost dazzle the confident and sarcastic witch. "My name's Brett."

"Amelia Earhart," the witch states as she hold out her hand to shake Brett's. He chuckles at her fake name and watches as she drinks another shot after the introductions. "Yes you may buy me another drink...or two, and no you may not know my real name."

"That's fine, you'll tell me anyways once I charm you into it." He smirks and Freya stares him down, both seeing the challenge and refusing to back down. "Alright you win miss Earhart. Drinks are on me tonight," he slaps down a few bills on the counter and tells Cami to keep the drinks coming for he and 'Amelia Earhart.'

Freya leans over staring at the mystery man taking in his dark skin and beautiful smile. Her slightly drunken nature mixing stranger and friend into one even plane. "So what brings you to New Orleans? Better yet what brings you to this bar to pay for my drinks at...5:45 in the afternoon?"

He gulps down his drink and turns to the blonde, "well the second part is easy. I came into this bar to get food and saw you all alone up here and decided to wing it. See what happens if I hit on the pretty lady." Brett smiles at her as the blonde simply stares at him skeptically, "and the why I'm in New Orleans is a longer story that would take more alcohol to divulge."

"Hey Cami," she calls the bartender over. "Bring us the bottle please, and for tonight my name is Amelia Earhart to this stranger." Brett smirks at the clever woman sitting before him, "now we have alcohol and I have plenty of time."

In the slowly setting sun Hope, Ingrid and Kol sit around attempting to do locator spells on Caroline. Each method they try fails though, and the trio are starting to lose hope. "Why don't we try a beacon?" Kol states looking at his obviously tired niece. "That way if she wakes in her body we'll be the first people to know where she's at."

Hope nods in agreement and sets out to gather the ingredients for the spell. Fifteen minutes later the young witch had finished the spell set to go off the moment Caroline woke...if she ever did. "Great now that that's done, I'm going with Elijah to see mom in the bayou. Don't taunt Ingrid uncle Kol, and if he does Ingrid there's a dagger in the kitchen you can stab him with. It'll put him to sleep until a responsible adult gets back."

"I'm hurt you think I would harm a hair on sweet little red's head," Kol mocks back at his niece with a smirk. "Besides I am a responsible adult now."

"Who told you that? Grandma?" Hope rolls her eyes as she slides on her leather jacket, "oh and I know you wouldn't hurt Ingrid, but you'd definitely make her want to hurt herself with your non-stop jabbering."

"Go visit the squirrels Hope," he calls out to her as he shoo's his niece from the room.

Ingrid sighs and leans back into her seat basking in the quiet. She runs her fingers through her straight red hair, "please don't say anything to ruin the peace and quiet right now." Kol chuckles as he looks on at the girl curiously.

"I'm just curious," she groans as his voice cuts through ruining the moment of silence. "How did a random girl like you end up meeting Caroline Forbes halfway across the world. Then she took you to Mystic Falls with her, and somehow you've ended up with the Mikaelson family within a span of three weeks?"

She looks at him as a knot tightens in her throat, "I was looking for my parents."

"Oh I see...orphaned."

"No, I had adoptive parents. My mom growing up was great, but then I found out I was adopted and I needed an excuse to leave home. That seemed like a good enough reason." She shrugs her shoulders and looks down at the floor as she fidgets with her fingers mindlessly. Kol merely sits back and waits for her to continue knowing full and well that she would eventually. "When I came to Tel Aviv I was aimlessly searching for answers, and I'd ended up there off a tip some random lead gave me. I still don't know how I got that tip, but it took me to the archives room that was on the estate where Caroline lived."

"That's no accident sweetheart, and I would go as far to say your being there was planned. By who, I'm not sure. I'd suspect the same person taunting Caroline, but we won't know unless we dig for answers."

"Dig for answers?"

Kol smiles at her brightly and slowly, hesitantly reaches across to take her hands in his, "of course. We're going to find out every answer to any possible question you have love. Who your birth parents are, why you were sent to Caroline, and maybe we'll find out more than we bargained for along the way."

"We?" She questions with a curious look in her eyes.

"Darling you're going to have to stop questioning me like that if this is going to work. Just say yes and then be happy that you have me on your side little red."

"We have to find her first. Caroline is alive, she has to be."

"I know."

Somewhere far off and underground, the system of cages and cells are empty except for the woman's body that housed Caroline Forbes. She sat against the wall breathing shallowly. Having finally been given food and water not long ago, she'd begun to feel a little better. As good as she could get being trapped in someone else's body, in a cell, and being held by some mysterious villain dude.

In the distance she can hear what sounds like chanting growing louder and louder. Caroline cowers against the wall attempting to blend into the hard material as the voices seem to reach her very cell. The sound becomes so loud at one point she has to cover her ears to save the fragile hearing of her human vessel.

Black dots cloud her vision and for a moment she blacks out, but as her eyes open once more she's staring up at a cleaner room. How long had she been out? Looking left and right, she finds that she'd been placed on a table. The walls around her are painted an odd teal shade with the color chipping off the walls. A single bunk sits in the far corner and a sink with a mirror across the room.

Caroline slowly steps off the table and shivers as her feet make contact with the cold floors. Tiptoeing over to the sink she peers in the mirror seeing her familiar reflection. "Welcome back Caroline, and let the trials begin." A voice states from a speaker above her as gas begins to pour into the room. 'Vervain,' she thinks to herself as the room clouds with the smokey substance and once again she collapses.

 **So here it is chapter seven! I had been meaning to post it a few days ago, but of course life happens. This is un-edited so please excuse any mistakes, and I will most likely go back later and edit them if needed. Thank you all so much for reviews and follows and for being invested in this story and the journey of this new Caroline - I also hope I can write the complex character of Klaus to justice.**

 **Anyways per usual I don't own TVD/TO and I so wish I did because the characters were done so dirty in the end. Please comment, share, follow/favorite and I will hopefully be back soon with chapter 8!**

 **Always and forever friends :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Fate**

 **Chapter Eight - Cloaking Spells Are A Bitch**

Freya wakes the next morning in a strange room. The sheets in her bed are scratchy and her lack of clothing is severe. Her eyes flick around the dim room spotting her clothes thrown around in a disarray and her phone sitting beside her small bag by the door. Slowly rolling over she sees the man from the bar last night, and she mentally face palms herself. 'Really Freya, you just couldn't keep it in your pants could you?' She questions herself as she attempts to crawl out of bed slowly and quietly...maybe she could escape unnoticed and not do the whole walk of shame thing.

She flinches as the guy grumbles and stretches out in the bed. Almost completely dressed she turns around and looks at the extremely attractive man in bed. "Well good morning...Amelia Earhart. Do you think I've earned the privilege to know your real name now?"

"After last night I would definitely say yes, but I need to leave. Family emergency and yeah I don't have time for this." She quick pulls on her boots haphazardly and attempts to make her way out. But something stops her in her tracks, and maybe she was feeling all 'seize the day' and crap, but this guy had something different about him. "Freya, my name is Freya."

Turning around to peer at him as Brett leans back in his bed showing off his muscular chest, "Freya." He smiles testing the name on his lips and liking the sound of it, the feel of it. "I hope to see you again Freya." Giving a simple nod at her towards the door she smiles back at him and exits the apartment/flat.

Once she had safely made it outside to the streets she takes a moment to lean against the building, "deep breaths Freya." The flashbacks of her previous nightly activities were going to be overwhelming today that's for sure.

Caroline sits in an uncomfortable chair, chains on her wrists and ankles that are bolted to the floor and fused with magic. She can feel the enchantments thick in the building everywhere she goes. They cloud her thoughts, push down her strength, and suppress her extra abilities so deep within that they don't exist. "You wanted to talk, so talk." She glowers at the man sitting before her.

In another lifetime she would've pictured him as handsome, been attracted to him even. His dark hair framing his face and his strong jawline, with iridescent green eyes that seemed to shine in the dark. Even the scar that stretched down his face gave an air about him. "I figured you had questions, and I have answers." He smirks knowing that he was in control of this situation in every way possible. And Caroline did not like being in the dark.

"That's right, but I assumed you bad guys have a policy of not telling your prisoners your evil plots." Caroline's glare holds steady as the man stares her down as if calculating her next move. "So oh wise one since you seem to have all these answers why don't you just tell me what you want me to hear. Isn't that what you're going to do anyways?"

He chuckles, "I knew you were smart Caroline; but you are bloody brilliant beyond what your old friends gave you credit for." Leaning across the table he attempts to take Caroline's hands in his own but she flinches away quickly keeping as much of her out of reach as possible.

"Rule number one, don't touch me. Do it again and you'll lose your hand when I get out of these chains."

"Alright, fair enough." He holds his hands up in a surrender, but they both know he would do whatever he pleased. "I know you've heard the legends and stories about me. The infamous Teacher, mysterious mass murderer blah, blah, blah."

"Yes I actually did hear the stories and they all make you out to a homicidal lunatic. Seems they were right," she leans back in her chair attempting to cross her arms despite the chains around her wrists. She had to at least give the appearance of strength in front of this guy. Even if he could see right through it all.

Tilting his head to the side, he watches the blonde's body language. "I see those walls you're building up in that little head of yours. It won't work, I've been alive far too long and learned everything there is to know about you Caroline. Every tone that leaves your lips I've already calculated, and every position you sit in I have watched you do it time and time again." He watches in satisfaction as she scrambles to pull up her walls further and remains silent. "See that silence there is you just waiting for the opponent's next move, and the way you're sitting is first off all a way to seem like you don't care and you're above everything else going on. The way you cross your arms is almost like you're protecting your heart from what it's witnessing, but the fear that flickers through your eyes for just a brief moment is what gives you away to anyone that is really paying attention."

Caroline sits back in silence as he attempts to dissect her, "did you study psychology or something?" She scoffs and rolls her eyes. There's no way in hell she's backing down from this dude now.

Shaking his head he relaxes back into his own chair, "no I've been trapped in a prison world of sorts for the last 2,000 years. That is, until my followers freed me a few weeks ago."

She clenches her jaw, "you've been sending me those stupid messages for years now. So how the hell did you just escape a few weeks ago?"

"See just like I said. You have questions and I have answers." He smiles at her, "but first you should know my name if we're going to share life stories. I am Kyros first and only born to my parents, husband to Rhea the huntress. And I guess you could also call me the Teacher. Pleasure to make your acquaintance Caroline."

Sitting there across from the man she'd been familiar with for over a year and now face to face were two completely different things Caroline was beginning to realize. The Teacher she knew was mysterious and murdering people and attempted to kill her as well - technically he did. But Kyros, the man, sitting across from her now was showing layers of himself that she figured didn't exist. "So what you're just going to share some life sob story to make me think you're the good guy in all this? News flash, you've had me killed _twice_ and just a few hours ago I was locked in a room and gassed with vervain. Try harder if you want me to believe your an onion with layers crap," Caroline scowls at Kyros wondering if he really was delusional.

"I will not be vague or confusing with what I want Caroline. You may not hear all the information you would like to know, but I most certainly won't pretend to be the good guy. It's never been my thing really." He leans back in chair staring at his nails as he picks dirt out from under them, 'probably dirt from my damn grave.' Caroline thinks to herself as she shakes her head at the man.

Leaning forward in her chair this time she glares at Kyros attempting to let her anger fuel this conversation. "Let's get one thing straight right now. I will _never_ help you, believe you or whatever the hell it is that you want from me."

"Isn't that what you once told someone else too? Niklaus Mikaelson if I'm correct," Kyros smiles at his opponent watching her features relax and she sits back in her seat taking her turn to watch him instead. "You think I don't know anything Caroline, but you must know that the place I was trapped in still allowed me to watch certain people over the centuries. You are by far the most interesting I must say though. So fragile in your younger years, and giving yourself completely to everyone that would allow you to even if it damaged you beyond repair in places. Then somehow you get a 1,000 year old vampire-hybrid to fall in love with you,"

"Klaus is not in love with me."

"Don't fool yourself Caroline, you're not that dumb. In all the years I've watched your life the time spent with Mr. Mikaelson was certainly the most intriguing. That man over the centuries became the most unloveable, most feared, and hated creature to exist and somehow you got to see the man beneath that." He pauses watching her for a moment as his eyes turn a cloudy shade, "Rhea was the same way once upon a time."

"Who's Rhea? Some ex-lover of yours who found someone that wasn't psychotic and decided to move on?" Caroline smirks hoping she's pushing the right buttons to make Kyros angry enough to send her away again. She didn't want to spend another minute with this creep.

He chuckles and doesn't respond for several moments as he buries his face in his hands attempting to calm his own laughter. "No my dear Caroline. Rhea was my wife as I've mentioned before, obviously you didn't pay attention to that part. She was special...like you. She was also one of my students in the legends you hear about, and yes I most certainly did kill my own wife because she was a traitorous bitch." His eyes turn a calculating cold as he stares down the blonde who's trying to piece together what point he's trying to make. "But I believe the information that would best cater to you about Rhea is this story. Before we were married she had a child, and I never knew of this child since it was given away before we'd ever met. This child had one of their own and so on. Some 2,000 years later a woman named Elizabeth Forbes had her own child on October 10, 1992."

"So I'm related to your ex-wife that you murdered?" Caroline scoffs and crosses her arms once again, "that's rich. Do you think I would possibly believe that, and besides even if that is true why not choose someone else in my family line to taunt?"

"My dear Caroline you are so much more special than anyone could imagine. Your abilities to resurrect and probe through minds are just scratching the surface. To answer your question though, I couldn't just pick any family member of Rhea's to taunt because you are her spitting imagine...her doppelganger if you would like to put it that way." His words hang in the air as silence envelops them both. Long after Kyros leaves the room, Caroline continues to sit there staring at the table pondering over his words.

"Not another fucking doppelganger story."

Hope stands in the old house that she'd spent half her life communing at with her mom and the wolves of New Orleans. This place in the almost 19 years she'd known it had been sacred. It's where everyone came when Hope was first born to mourn over her 'death,' and it's also where they've come to celebrate the new life that'd been brought into the world over the last two decades. This is also the spot where Jackson Kenner had his funeral and several other wolves that had perished as the years went by. And though Hope had never truly known her mother's husband she didn't doubt that he cared for her and this family.

Now she stands there with her mom checking on all the wolves in the aftermath of the full moon. There were a couple young ones that had just experienced their first transition, and to the elders it was a right of passage. Hope never wanted to experience it though. The thought of having to kill someone, and then breaking every bone in her body seemed too excruciating to imagine. "So you're the wolf princess," a voice sounds from behind her perch against a tree.

She'd been standing back towards the treeline as the rest of the pack crowded around Hayley for their meeting to discuss important 'pack stuff.' Rolling her eyes she turns to the voice, "and who are you supposed to be? Besides a lurker that obviously isn't part of the pack because I know everyone." Hope crosses her arms as she confronts the young guy that had come up behind her.

"The name's Isaac, but I would've thought your mother had told you. She's been trying for almost a year to get me to join your little group," his attitude and smirk immediately causes the young Mikaelson to dislike him.

Scoffing she replies, "well Isaac whoever you are it's called a pack not a group. Not that you would know because I can practically smell the whole omega lone wolf crap on you. And if you're so disinterested in joining us then why are you even here?"

He shrugs his shoulders only infuriating the young wolf further, and Isaac likes the fury he sees building behind her eyes. "Hayley and I have stuff to talk about once she's done with her _group_ meeting."

"Unbelievable. You have no decency do you?" Hope glares at the wolf as he tries to pass by her, "not so fast omega." She uses her magic to pull him back and pin him to a nearby tree. "Why are you really here?"

"Whoa, whoa missy. I don't deal with witches so I suggest you talk to dear old mom over there. What you think I couldn't smell it on you too?" Her grip tightens on his throat, "fine I'm here because I was considering taking up her offer. Not on joining your pack, I'm not into singing kumbaya around the campfire every full moon with hairy people."

"You're one of those hairy people if you've forgotten the fact that you're a werewolf." Hope raises her brows as she slightly relaxes her hold on Isaac. "So if you're not here to join the pack, what offer did my mom give you?"

He sighs as his eyes ask if she would let go of him, and for some odd reason she does. "Hayley knows I don't want anything to do with wolves and packs of them. So she's offering me a place to stay in the French Quarter where I can protect myself instead of sleeping in the bayou."

Confusion crosses Hope's face as her eyes look around on the ground and finally spot a hikers bag with the essentials for living are packing in and around it. "You've been living out here? In a tent for almost a year?"

"No the tent thing was just at first and then I found an old cabin and fixed it up a little...until it was burned down by one of the small forest fires that broke out a few months ago."

"So where are you staying? I mean where is my mom letting you stay at?" Hope questions looking at the wolf as her curiosity grows. There was something not quite normal about him, the way he felt, the sensation he gave off...it wasn't like the other wolves she'd encountered her whole life.

He shrugs and moves towards his backpack, "not sure but I guess I'm about to find out. See you sometime wolf princess." He nods her off and leaves Hope standing slightly confused in the woods. She makes brief eye contact with her mother and then she decides to head back to the compound.

Getting away from home was good for a while, and it distracted her from the grieving over the loss of Caroline. But now her mind was plagued with the images of the man with hazel eyes and brown hair. "Get over it Hope," she tells herself. "He's hot as hot can get, but he's a ass." She shakes her head and starts the car before pulling onto the main road taking her back to the French Quarter...and back to the chaos of finding Caroline.

 **Ancient Greece - 2,000 Years Ago**

"We're going to get caught you guys," Rhea states as she and her companions move swiftly through the gardens of their home. It was the dead of night and whilst many were still awake in their own homes, most of the village streets were empty...and they definitely weren't supposed to be out in the open right now.

"Rhea, if we don't do this we may never find a way to save us from Kyros." Cassian turns his wild blue eyes onto her as his blonde almost white hair moves with the gentle breeze blowing. "He's your husband, you know every inch of that home."

"And just like I told you all. Whatever we're looking for isn't in our home. I've searched everywhere and there's nothing in our grimoires about sacrificial spells...not for what he's hoping to obtain." Rhea tightens her grip on the small blade in her hand at the sound of footsteps approaching.

A whisper comes from nearby as relief rushes through Rhea, Cassian, and his sister Celeste. "I knew you would all be here tonight. Looking for the spell I guess," Kaelen states as he pulls the hood of his cloak further up to protect himself from being seen. His dark skin blends in with the shadows easily and his deep melodic voice draws the attention of his friends with ease. "Follow me, Atara and I have found something we believe."

Rhea stands looking between her blonde friends standing by her side and Kaelen who is beckoning them further away from their little town. "He's my husband and I know he's done good things for us in these last few years, but there's something evil in him. A darkness we couldn't begin to imagine, and I've seen this first hand in our own home." She looks down at the sketching of a spell that Kaelen and Atara had found, "can this kill him?"

"It will do more than that," Atara states as her dark curls frame her face and her silver toned eyes shine through in the dark. "If we do this right, when Kyros goes to complete his ritual - which involves killing us all. We will die, but so will he."

Cassian looks at Atara with confusion and a strange emotion building within, "this plan was supposed to keep us alive Atara. Not get us all killed."

"Kyros has to be stopped! One way or another it will be done, and if that means sacrificing our lives to save many then so be it." Atara glares at her blonde friend wondering if they would come to an agreement on how to defeat their teacher before he decided to kill them. "This is a plan at least, and there's more to it than just us dying along with him."

"Pray tell what is this marvelous plan you two have dug up for us? Or should I go dig my own grave now?" Celeste crosses her arms as she stares at Rhea who merely looks down at the ground. "Rhea please tell them this is ridiculous."

A long pause between them raises the tension tenfold, "I don't think I can Celeste." She looks at her friends apologetically, "can you tell us what else there is to the spell Kaelen?"

"Yes, we do have to die as Atara has already stated and it will lead to Kyros dying as well. We are the most powerful people in this village beside Silas and Qetsiyah, and they are both dead now. In a sacrificial ritual like Kyros is planning there will be a great amount of power released, and we have a small window to complete this. If we can all do this spell as he's doing the ritual we will all die, but the power that is returned to the earth will create a realm. A place for us to go when we die to watch over the supernaturals as we have been called to do."

"But what about my husband? He cannot find a way to return to life, and if he does without us there the world will be doomed."

"I was actually getting to that." Kaelen states as he looks down the scribblings once more to read the spell through again, "see here if we do this right his death will create a special prison just for him. It's like a place between life and death where he will be eternally bound - there's no escaping."

"How do we create this prison and lock him in it?" Rhea questions wondering where the complicated part of this plan was. There was always a catch.

He sighs and pulls down the hood of his cloak to look at Rhea, "you have to die a different kind of death. Which is part of his ritual - he has to take the heart of the thing he loves most which is you."

 **New Orleans - Present Day**

Caroline sits back in her cell after the discovery of her lineage to Rhea and the Teacher's students. She leans against the brick wall attempting to gain some semblance of peace for a moment or two, "I'm assuming Kyros told you of the history." A voice sounds from nearby as the blonde vampire turns to see the body she'd once inhabited in the cell beside hers. "My name is Lily," the woman states as she sticks her hand through the metal bars to shake Caroline's hand.

Slowly and reluctantly the blonde responds to the gesture, "Caroline Forbes." She wearily eyes the woman for a few moments pondering why they were trapped here together. "If you don't mind my asking, why did Kyros put you here? I was trapped in your body for days and I would've assumed he killed you after that."

"And yet here I am," she smiles gesturing to her very much alive and well form. "I believe he wants me to serve my purpose in helping you discover what you truly are. Kyros has some form of a delusion that if you can buy into his whole story that the rest will follow you."

"The rest?" Caroline crinkles her brows together staring at Lily waiting for answers to emerge. "What do you mean by that?"

"He told you the story of his students, and how you're a direct descendant of Rhea. The legend is very vague about his students and the only thing it truly mentions is that they were quite powerful and Kyros craved power more than anything else on this earth. Even more than the love of his wife, and that's why killing her wasn't difficult to him."

Caroline rolls her eyes and leans against the metal bars separating the two in their cells, "yes I know this stuff. I've heard it over and over again now. Kyros is the Teacher, he had 5 students and one was his wife - who's my ancestor and I'm her doppelganger - and then he slaughtered them all for power."

A deep laugh comes from Lily as she stares at the vampire with a strange look, "if you know this much then why doesn't it make sense when I mention the rest of them. You don't think you are the only reincarnated one do you?" Realization crosses the blonde's face as Lily continues; "you are the only doppelganger out of the 5 though. Not sure why fate directed that to happen, but I'm losing the point." She shakes her head and refocuses. "There is a prophecy, it's unheard of to many unless they have a interest in the Teacher and that whole mystery - and not many people did since it was so vague in many books. It says that when the students were sacrificed they created a failsafe that would trap their master away for all eternity - in a place far more secure and torturous than the other side even."

"Wait hold up, you're losing me here. I don't speak witch lingo and all of these legends and prophecies and crap are getting confused." Caroline pauses the woman so she can attempt to wrap her head around witches powerful enough to create entire realms - though it did happen with Kai and the gemini coven...granted the entire coven performed that spell.

Sighing Lily taps her long fingers against her thin lips, "I think this would make more sense if I were to show you instead of tell you." She bites her bottom lip and recalls the spell she'd once read in a book months back, "if you will allow me to I can place your mind in the memories of Rhea so you can understand for yourself what truly occured when Kyros walked the earth."

Unsure, and a little weirded out, Caroline takes a deep breath and hopes she's prepared to learn all this information. "Ok, let's do it."

 **Ancient Greece - 2,000 Years Ago**

"I'm not the thing he loves most. My heart would be meaningless in this spell." Rhea states as she throws her hands up in the air at Kaelen. "I may be Kyros' wife, but I am certainly not the object of his heart's desire. Power is the thing he loves most in the world, which is why he's already willing to sacrifice us all for that exact thing."

Kaelen paces the dirt ground anxiously as he attempts to form a plan quickly that will bring Rhea on board. He knew that the rest wouldn't agree if she didn't, "what if we added onto the spell?"

"What are you going on about now Kaelen? Don't make things up, it will only get us killed...oh wait we're already going to die according to your idiotic plans!" Celeste scowls at the man wondering what else he could possibly come up with this time.

He shakes his head and looks to Rhea hoping she could see where he's coming from with this. "We already know the spell will trap Kyros away for all eternity, and we will also be taken to a realm of peace. But we won't be able to leave this new realm once we enter."

"If we cannot leave then how could we protect the supernaturals? What if Kyros escaped someday? Then what would we do to stop him?"

"I'm getting there Celeste," he rolls his eyes and rubs his fingers against the sides of his head. "We can create a contingency plan of sorts. Since we cannot leave we will need someone to take our places here on this plane...people who have similar minds to us and will know what is good for the supernaturals as a whole." Kaelen pauses wondering if Celeste or one of the others would interrupt him again, but silence greets him instead. "Doing this spell right means Kyros is locked away for a very long time, but there is no guarantee that he will stay there forever. So we create reincarnates, and they will only emerge when Kyros is freed from his prison someday - if he escapes. In the event this happens our reincarnates will be activated. They carry the same powers we carry, but stronger because they will be immortal. Unkillable just like the spell Kyros is going to perform on himself. Our deaths will give them eternal life someday to protect the world from Kyros and any other dangers that arise after that."

"So how do we choose these people?" Rhea questions uncertain of what the future could hold for them. "It is a good idea I will admit, but Kyros will discover us...he will find out about them and then this will be over before it's begun."

Kaelen reaches across to grab Rhea's arms gently as they'd done many times before over the years. The two had been friends for as long as they could remember and becoming students of Kyros made them family. "We keep them hidden. Whatever we have to do to protect them we put that as our priority - these five will carry on our legacy when they're activated. They will be our voice in the world long after we are forgotten. They will determine the fate of the supernatural universe."

"Fates…" Cassian states as he lets the world roll of his tongue in a fluid motion. "I like it, has a nice ring to it. We will be known as the Fates."

 **New Orleans - Present Day**

"What the hell?" Caroline quickly moves away from Lily as she re-emerges from the visions of the former students just before they'd been murdered. "So you're meaning to tell me that there are four others out there that are reincarnates of one of those people...and Kyros wants what with us?" She shrugs her shoulders wondering what the man wanted with them in the first place.

Revenge was the obvious choice, and a strange romance fantasy with his dead wife's doppelganger was too cliche to be true. So what did he really come back for? "He came back for you Caroline. To take what he believes belongs to him. The immortality you and the others stole 2,000 years ago."

"I'm not following. If Kyros wants immortality so bad why not just become a vampire or something?"

"Vampires are impure in his eyes. They're a disease meant to be cleansed from the magic of this world...becoming one would go against everything he stood for." Lily pauses looking at the blonde who indeed was the exact image of Rhea, "that prison was created just for him. It was meant to hold him for all eternity."

Caroline nods in understanding, "and now he's not there. So we have to put him back. I get that much of what we have to do - ugh I don't even know who 'we' is."

"The place he was imprisoned in is called to many the Lumenum or the In-Between for a more literal translation. It will begin groaning and shaking the foundations of magic now that it's lost its Kyros. He wants to be free to roam the earth with his immortality. The only way he can be free to do that is if someone took his place, and he wants all of you to take his place."

Freya sits in the room where all her grimoires were kept. Every possible locator spell known to witches were scattered around her, "come on Caroline. You have to be out there somewhere." She groans in frustration as yet another spell fails and cross that one off her list of attempts.

"Don't give up just yet aunt Freya. We can figure this out, I know we can." Hope places an assuring touch on her aunt's shoulder as the pair look down at the list of spells they'd gone through.

Shaking her head, Freya runs her fingers through her short blonde hair, "she has to be cloaked. That's the only thing I can think of that would give us dead ends on everything. Ingrid said that Caroline can't die which means that she is alive out there somewhere...and we just have to find her."

 **Ok so this took a little longer than I would have liked to finish, but it's here! Yay for 8 chapters down, and so many more to go I hope. I know the plot I have set out for the most part, but I'm trying to make this a good lengthy story so there's no** **rushing** **through it, but that means at some point there will be shorter chapters here and there that kind of just fill space and advance the characters. I know you were probably hoping to see Klaroline at some point soon, but unfortunately that's gonna have to wait because Caroline has to find her way back to him, physically and emotionally at this point.**

 **Once she's free from the Teacher (which will happen soon I promise) she can begin to tackle her feelings for Klaus. Warning this will be a slow-burn (I hope) because their romance hasn't been touched in this story for two decades. Klaus of course is crazy about the blonde, but she's got things she has to deal with from her past before she can ever be ready to start eternity with her hybrid lover.**

 **Any who, enjoy this chapter and I will cross my fingers to post the next chapter within the next week. We have a hurricane heading our way so the power might be an issue for few days (no Wi-fi means no writing or posting).**

 **Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites, etc. the love is appreciated and I hope you're enjoying this story.**

 **Always and Forever 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Fate**

 **Chapter Nine - I Was Drowning...**

Hayley sits in the old rocking chair she'd once intended for Hope with the promises of raising her daughter in as simple a life as possible, and now her mind races over everything her auburn haired miracle baby was stumbling into. "If you sit there long enough those lines will find permanence on your forehead," Elijah states as his suited form leans against the doorway watching the hybrid. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, "I'm worried about Hope."

"You're her mother, it's your job to worry about her." Elijah walks slowly into the room knowing that Hayley's troubles went beyond just worrying over her daughter. "Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you?"

Her green eyes look up to meet his for a brief moment and the all too familiar spark ignites; as it has for last 18 years every time their eyes met. "Witches, werewolves, and vampires I can prepare for. I can handle that stuff even when I don't fully understand the magic aspect of things, but this world Hope is entering into because of Caroline and Ingrid makes no sense to me. It's like there's this - this darkness, and I can't protect her from it." The worry that fills Hayley finally brims to the surface in front of Elijah as she truly allows her walls to come down for a brief moment.

The original swiftly takes her in his arms to give her whatever amount of comfort he could offer. "Hope is strong, and confident. She is in every way yours and Niklaus' daughter - she is a true Mikaelson. With that being said, there's nothing she cannot face because of this." Elijah pulls away slightly to focus on Hayley's face once more, "whatever is coming her way with Caroline and Ingrid we will all face together. There is not a doubt in my mind that these two women would abandon Hope either; they've formed a unique bond I don't quite understand myself over the past few weeks and that will not be broken easily."

"I trust you," Hayley wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him close once more. Breathing in his scent that she wishes to never forget. "Also, there's someone I invited to stay with us for a while. Don't let Klaus kill him please," Hayley backs away and quickly exits the room with a brief smile at the man she truly adored.

"What about a spell that uses an object personally connected to Caroline? We could - well you could - spell it to float and take us to wherever she is." Ingrid rubs her face attempting to force the exhaustion to fade away, but nothing seems to be working after their all-nighter trying to locate Caroline.

"Did you just happen to get that from _Once Upon a Time_?" Hope questions with a skeptical look on her face, "I've never heard of a spell like that before unless it was on TV."

Grimacing, "okay I probably did. It's been a long night and my severe lack of caffeine and sleep means I'm going to come up with ridiculous ideas." Ingrid once again looks to the bed nearby longingly as she wonders what real peaceful sleep would feel like right now.

Freya enters the room with two mugs in hand and places one in her nieces hands, "go get some rest Ingrid. I'll take over from here," the redhead seems hesitant to leave. "I promise to wake you the minute we find out anything major." The eldest Mikaelson nods her head towards the door and reluctantly Ingrid stands and exits the room. "You should go too Hope."

"I'm fine," she states not even looking up from the grimoire she was currently immersed in. "We need to find Caroline before something bad happens."

"Like her dying?" At this, Freya earns a glare from her niece. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little. Hope, she's not going anywhere. Just like Ingrid said before, Caroline can't die which means she's safe until we can find her and bring her back home."

In the still and quiet of the room Hope's small voice emerges that causes the hairs to stand up on Freya's neck. "There are things worse than death aunt Freya."

Sitting across from Kyros once again was the worst part of her day as of late, Caroline had already decided this the second time she encountered the man. "So what was with the heart stealing?" Kyros looks up from the meal in front of him to spot the blonde staring him down with curiosity and a fire he had once seen in Rhea. "I mean I know about the sacrifice and how you took Rhea's heart out, but what did you need my heart for?"

"That mon trésor isn't for you to know."

"Did you seriously just call me your treasure?" Her face is scrunched in a way well known to Kyros, but a look he could never quite interpret to words. "Look I don't know what sick game you're trying to play here, but let's get one thing straight. I'm being held here against my will, and you are the one doing the hostage thing - so let's not pretend like you're the good guy." Caroline's jaw is clenched as she shakes her head in disgust at the man before her, 'who was he even fooling' she wonders as she looks down once more at the chains that were constantly on her body.

"Fine," he slides his plate of food away and wipes off his chin. "I was trying to play this nicely. To give the answers you so desperately craved while also working towards my goal, but now I guess we will do it the hard way." Kyros steps across the room in one long stride and he's inches apart from Caroline. His strong fingers clench onto her chin forcing her brilliantly terrified eyes to stare into his wild glowing ones, "just remember while you scream in agony that I tried to do this kindly."

Before Caroline can blink she finds herself alone in the room once more as the door is bolted shut tightly. The chains remain on her arms as she pulls herself towards the door and looks through the small window for any sign of someone, "if you think you can get under my skin you've got another thing coming for ya psycho!" She yells hoping the creep could hear her wherever he was. With a heavy sigh she lifts up her chains and sits back down at the table, meditating to pass the time and pondering over the visions she'd seen of her doppelganger in recent days.

"You cannot just go charging out there looking for Caroline love!" Klaus chases after his daughter fervently trying to stop her from leaving the compound.

She turns to him sighing as she slaps her palms against her legs, "what am I supposed to do then? Keep doing pointless spells to find her? Plaster her face on milk cartons? I thought you of all people would be helping me find her," Hope shakes her head in disbelief at her father as he steps back pondering over her words for a brief moment.

Quickly the emotion flee's his face, "no. You're not leaving and that is final. Even if we do find Caroline you won't set foot out of this home to rescue her. That's my job, to protect you, not the other way around."

The sound of footsteps entering the compound draws the pairs attention away from their current argument. "Uh..is this a bad time? I'm looking for Hayley actually, so if you could point me in her direction that'd be great." Isaac stands there rocking back on his heels as he stares at the original hybrid and his daughter arguing.

"And just who might you be?" Klaus's tone is sinister, the typical voice he would use with anyone outside of his loved ones and friends. The very look in his blue eyes causes Isaac to take a step back, debating on whether or not to just leave now.

"His name is Isaac, and he's part of the crescent pack. I think mom said something about inviting him to stay here for a while." Hope shrugs her shoulders hoping she's selling the tale well enough for her dad to believe - if not Isaac would probably end up dead in T-10 seconds. Just like clockwork, the young werewolf is slammed against the wall held by his throat as Klaus stares him down, "dad!"

Hope calls out to her father as she centers herself and pulls Klaus from Isaac with her magic. Once the pair are separated she calls for her mom who flashes into the main area where the 3 were gathered. "That's enough Klaus, he's just a kid."

"Strangers don't come into this home without my knowledge Hayley! That's always been the rule, since before Hope was born. I figured you would be smart enough to still abide by that."

The now fuming werewolf points her finger at her baby daddy as she stares him down defiantly. "Don't bring Hope and her safety into this. I would never do anything to put her in harm's way, and if I doubted for a second that Isaac had wrong intentions I wouldn't have even invited him." After a few minutes of the pair staring each other down looking for weaknesses and more ways to argue, Klaus steps back with his hands up in a mock surrender. "Isaac grab your things, Hope will show you to a room. Feel free to get any food you want out of the kitchen." Hayley turns and smiles at the young man whose eyes were on Hope the entire time. That smile on her lips turns a different tune as she recognizes the look in his eyes...it was the same way Elijah looked at her when they first met, and he still gave her those looks every so often when she could catch him in the act.

Now her daughter appeared oblivious to the guy staring at her, but Hayley was sure she'd notice at some point. Watching as the pair trek upstairs, she turns her attention back to Klaus who stood glaring at Isaac and Hayley. "You know I should have been told about this. It doesn't matter that he isn't a threat in your eyes." He grumbles looking around for some way to wiggle a win from this argument.

"Klaus, she's my daughter too. I want what's best for her, and that includes safety." Hayley places a soft hand on his shoulder as she stares at him and then back up the stairs where she can hear Hope formally introducing herself to Isaac. "She will always come first, don't forget that about me."

It felt like hours, but it could've been minutes. Caroline sat in that same interrogation room for an eternity. Meditating, thinking, plotting, wondering what was going on outside of this hellhole. Everyone probably believes she's dead, and since Ingrid didn't know for certain if she would come back, the redhead probably didn't argue with the funeral thing. Which means Klaus and Hope, and everyone else, have probably mourned and moved on by now. 'Shut up brain,' she tells herself as she shakes her head and refocuses her thoughts.

Centering herself she tries to remember the feeling of magic flowing through her. That power she missed and craved so much, but couldn't quite tap into. From day one of being returned to her body magical cuffs had been placed on her to keep the magic at bay as well as drugs that kept her a little off balance. After a few doses she realized vervain had been mixed in with the drugs, and it kept her weak all around. 'He knows I could get out of here at my full strength.'

Her train of thought is interrupted once again at the sound of water coming from nearby. Blue orbs burst open to stare at the water that's beginning to pour out from the air vents on the bottom of the walls. Covering the floor in a thin sheen of river, and the levels were rising rapidly. "Hello! What the hell are you doing Kyros," Caroline calls out to the empty wondering if he would actually respond.

"You heard me when I left the room. I tried being nice, friendly, playing the good cop as many would say. That's really just not my style, this is the bad cop. Being uncooperative got you here Caroline, just remember you did this to yourself love." Like that his voice disappears from the room and the water pours into the room faster and faster.

Soon Caroline finds herself swimming in the water trying to keep her head above the rising levels. All the while her chains connecting her wrists together and her ankles as well, aren't helping the process of staying afloat at all. As she presses her face against the ceiling the lights go out and there's no more air to take in...just water and drowning over and over.

"Whatcha doing there?" Isaac questions as he follows Hope into the magic room where she, Freya, and Ingrid had spent the better part of their days. He takes in the sight of candles everywhere, with various dried wax stains on the floors and wood tables. The smallest hint of smoke fills the room mixed with an herb he couldn't quite identify. Bookshelves were littered with grimoires that the Mikaelson family had collected over the centuries they'd walked the earth.

Rolling her eyes at the young werewolf, Hope plops down on the floor beside a clean map and begins to do another locator spell once again. Her hopes dwindled by each chant that they wouldn't find Caroline. "Looking for a friend if you must know," she grumbles as her eyes never move from the work at hand. Ignoring Isaac as if he's not really there at all.

As the wolf grows more curious he stands leaning against a wall watching the witch in fascination, and a little bit of fear layered beneath. "If you want to say something, don't bite your tongue." Hope looks up at him wondering what was on the boys mind. She rolls her eyes once more when he remains silent.

"Is rolling your eyes a Hope Mikaelson trend thing? You've done that at least seven times since I got here - and all were directed at me. That's not counting the several ones your own parents received." Before Hope could respond he holds his hand up to silence her, "also your parents are very scary so I have no clue how you get away with even something like that at this point."

"You're babbling Isaac, and stalling to get to the point of what you were really wanting to say the minute we walked in this room." Hope simply states as she turns her attention back to the spell and grimoire nearby. Wondering if he'll speak again and praying he doesn't all at once.

"My parents were killed by witches. I was really little, and after that I was bounced around from foster home to foster home." Isaac looks down at his shoes wondering how the young witch would react. He glances up slowly as she stares at him with sympathy...something he didn't entirely expect. His mind was playing out the scenarios that she would become defensive over her kind that not all of them were bad or dangerous. He knew the truth though, and not even Hope Mikaelson could change his mind of that.

Clearing her throat after a long pause of silence she shifts her position to face Isaac better. "Witches have done terrible things I will admit to that, but so have vampires, and werewolves. There's no innocent party when it comes to the supernaturals Isaac. When I was born I was taken from my mom's arms as a bunch of witches went to sacrifice me for power. Then in that same day wolves from this very city tried to tear apart my whole family. When I wasn't even a year old my grandmother tried to kill me so her sister wouldn't come and take me away and kill all my family. My dad's awful non-biological father tried to kill my mom right before I was born because I was the daughter of an 'abomination.' So you see Isaac, everyone has a part to play but not all witches are evil, and not all of them are good either."

The pair stare at each other for quite a while before the sound of a throat clearing comes from the doorway. "Let's get back to work Hope," her aunt states as she enters the room and prepares to dig through more grimoires on what they're facing, and possibly a lead to Caroline.

That night as Caroline lays back in her cell, somewhere between death and unconsciousness, the sound of Hope's voice echoes in her mind. "Caroline is that you?" The young witch stares at the blonde vampire and her disheveled state. Taking in her wet hair, bloody spots across her arms and body, and ripped clothing. The dirt under her nails evident as some of her fingernails had broken and chipped down to nothing. "Oh my...what is happening to you." She rushes across the psychic plane to hug her friend.

"It's Kyros," she pauses at the confused look on Hopes face. "The Teacher I mean, I'm with him. He planned this whole thing, and we were just blindly following it. He knew about Tyler being in town, and sent his witch minions to trap me with him while he turned. He knew I would die before Klaus could get to me and that you wouldn't think about me coming back from this. Kyros is too smart...everything I've thought of he's already thought up and gotten three steps ahead." Caroline's panicked voice frightens Hope as the woman had never appeared so fragile but in this very moment.

"You're scared," Hope whispers looking at the wild blue eyes that scanned the area. "Listen to me Caroline, I need you to tell me everything you can about Kyros and what the place you're at looks like. We know you're alive, and we're going to find you." Stepping back from the blonde and gently holding her trembling hands, Hope gasps as flashes of terror fill her eyes.

"Hope!" The vampire screams as the younger girl collapses to the ground. Her eyes cloud over as her once green eyes turn a brilliant silver and then quickly return to normal. "Are you alright? Hope, can you hear me!?" Caroline holds her and attempts to get a response, but for several minutes nothing comes but silence and worry increasing.

"You were drowned…" Hope looks up at Caroline with sympathy as the blonde stares at her in confusion. "Don't ask me how I know, but when I touched you I had these visions. Of your death, several of your deaths actually...dating all the way back to when you were first turned." Hope slowly sits up with Caroline's help and the pair look on in confusion. "I think I have to go, I can sense someone coming to you. If I'm still here it could mean trouble for us both."

"Please don't leave me," Caroline whimpers hugging her friend and trying not to break for the first time in a long time. She was a fighter dammit, and fighters don't break down and cry at times like this. The pair hold tight for a few more moments taking in these last seconds together for what could be a while.

"I will come back, I promise. You are part of my Always and Forever now Caroline. I don't abandon family... _ever._ " Hope grips her arms tightly hoping this will reassure her words to the blonde as her form quickly fades from the plane they were in.

Gasping awake, Caroline finds that she's once again in her cell with the chains still attached to her wrist, but now they're used to keep her held to a wall. "Good morning Caroline. Did you have a nice...nap?" Kyros stands in the shadows, half of his face illuminated by the small light creeping in through the stone walls. He's taunting her and she knows it.

"Get out," she manages to ground out through her teeth before turning to look away from him. She would rather travel with Rebekah and Stefan right now than be here, and that's saying a lot considering their ties. "GET OUT!" She screams and lunges at him when the man doesn't budge. Her chains yank her backwards roughly though, and Kyros can only laugh in response.

His laughter only angers the blonde more allowing her rage to boil once more, "such a spitfire. Just like Rhea in every way possible. Also like Rhea you're a traitorous bitch who will betray anyone for her freedom."

It's Caroline's turn to laugh now as she shakes her head at Kyros. "The only one who is a traitor here is you. I was taken against my will, tortured, and kept from my friends who mostly believe I'm dead now." Caroline rolls her eyes at him and scoffs once more.

"I want your help with something."

"I will never, ever, help you." Caroline growls at the Teacher as those words register all too familiar in her mind.

"You must realize I've been watching you and the others your whole lives, and that line was quite compelling when you spoke it to Klaus Mikaelson. But you were lying then, just as I know you're lying now." He steps further into the cell, getting more in her personal space than she'd like. "You're going to help me because I just might let you go after you do so. There's someone I need you to track down and bring to me, and you have just the...abilities I need to extract him."

 **I am SO sorry it took me so long to get this updated. With the storm coming through we lost power for a bit, and then classes at my college resumed like right after that and I haven't had any time to write! I missed getting to update regularly for the time, but now I'm officially back and will try to get on a schedule of updating...we'll see how that goes.**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoyed chapter 9, and I know it was sort of a filler chapter but we needed it to progress the story without pushing the plot so far ahead. I want this story to kind of drag out...right now my goal is to get somewhere between 30-50 chapters, but that all depends on how this flows with the minor plot points I'm creating per chapter.**

 **Poll Question: I am currently planning the ending of this story out and I have two options. I am slightly leaning towards the second one just because it's a fascinating idea I have (that I won't disclose details on). So Idea 1: close end this story when it's done with an open sort of ending that completes everything and** **just ends it altogether. Idea 2: somewhat cliffhanger ending but most loose ends tied up with a possible venture into a sequel that will explore these new characters further and brings in a new villain and plot as well.**

 **I should probably stop now...I don't own TVD/TO...wish I did terribly so.**

 **Always and Forever :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Fate**

 **Chapter Ten - ...and You Didn't Save Me**

She could hear the booming sounds of thunder and see the bright flashes of lightning every few minutes from her cell. The pounding rain against the earth brought memories back of standing in the pouring weather when she'd first made Israel her home years ago. Who would've thought that now she would be entrapped in a cage by a man telling a tale she had no clue how to handle. The soothing sound reminds her of the time when she was really young and asked her mom about why it rained.

" _Because when someone is mourning or missing someone else, it rains to remind them that wherever they are rain always comes."_ How Liz Forbes had been wise with those very words. Caroline remained unsure how no one else had heard of that as a child, and she always felt special getting to share that line with friends in school. She sighs and turns her head away from the direction of the small opening that allowed her to see the lightning. Still bound by her chains, she obviously had nowhere to go and couldn't even attempt an escape.

"Are you ready to corporate Caroline?" Kyros now stands in the doorway staring down the blonde with his eery eyes. When she doesn't respond and instead turns her head away from him once again, "you can't be serious. I'm offering you an out here darling, and you're blowing it." He scoffs as his hands reach for his face to determine how to convince the blonde to agree. "All I'm asking is for a little teensy help tracking down a man and you refuse to do even that."

Caroline remains silent for several moments, allowing the curiosity mixed with anger to fill her once again. She couldn't count on one hand how many times she'd been ready to kill that man since discovering him, and even before when he was just known as the ominous 'Teacher,' her animosity towards him was just as great. "Why would I help you kidnap someone else? Let's not forget that you've spent the better part of the last few days torturing me! You can move on and find another way to track down whoever it is you want because as far as I'm concerned I will stay here." Crossing her arms the chains rattle slightly as they clink upon connection.

"If you want to be free of those chains I suggest you help, or I could find more...interesting ways to change your mind." His expression is one she'd seen before. Long years ago though before she was ever turned. It was a look that she'd once seen on Damon Salvatore's face when the pair had first met, and even on a random guy from her high school at one point. She shivered at the thought and quickly put her walls back up afraid he would see her weakness.

Sighing heavily, the blonde knew she was going to regret the next words to leave her mouth. But self preservation got the better of her. "What do you need me to do."

Freya and Hope had spent the next few days after Isaac had entered their home locked away in the magic room. Every so often the residents of the Mikaelson compound would hear a groan or cry of frustration from the females. After weeks of striving they'd gotten nowhere on locating Caroline, and this left Ingrid so unnerved that she could barely sit still for long periods of time.

Which is how she ended up wandering the streets of the French Quarter with none other than Kol Mikaelson. "You know when this city was first built I was here." He states in a very nonchalant way that causes the young and inexperienced woman to look at him with wide, unconvinced eyes. "It's true I swear by it," his charming accent creeping through as the vampire produces a dazzling smile.

"Ok then prove it. Tell me something I don't know - which will probably be a lot - about the city." Ingrid shrugs her shoulders as he leads her to a restaurant that he claimed sold the 'best beignets you'd ever taste.'

As he orders some of the powdered dessert for the pair, he sits his head on his hands and ponders over a memory that would most fascinate the redhead. "Well a majority of my time in this city was spent in a box with a dagger in my heart," spotting her confused look he elaborates. "There are these mystical daggers for my siblings and I that will put us in a sleep state when they're in our hearts."

Nodding in understanding Ingrid takes a bite of her beignet that had just recently arrived at the table, "oh my god these are fantastic. That's also very strange with the whole daggering thing...it's kinda like Caroline and her being able to survive any death thing." Sitting there in silence for a moment the pair stare at each other as their eyes widen. "I'll get a to-go box," Ingrid states running inside for a waitress as Kol nods in agreement and says something about paying for their food.

The pair arrive back at the compound in a disarray which only receives a comment from Klaus, "so Kol where have you and Ingrid been?" His eyebrows raise in suspicion as he hints towards the sexual nature of his comment.

"Please like I would do that brother," Kol feigns innocence in front

of the redhead. Looking over at her he almost forgets why they rushed back in such a hurry as he admired the bright blush on her cheeks.

Ingrid reigns in the conversation quickly though, "where's Freya or Hope?" Her words demand an answer which Klaus finds quite funny considering this girl was a mere human in the presence of vampires, witches, werewolves, and even hybrids.

"They're upstairs," Klaus nods towards the area where his daughter and sister were located and quickly walks off in the opposite direction.

She grasps Kol's hand and drags the immortal up the stairs behind her. "We think we found a way to track Caroline," she says from the doorway of the magic room. The focus of the two witches weren't on Ingrid though, but instead the still connected hands of her and Kol. She immediately lets go of his hands and tries to suppress the blush forming once more.

Freya is the first to refocus her attention on what Ingrid was saying, "how? We've tried every spell we know of and there's no results. I care about Caroline too but there comes a point when you've exhausted all resources and have to accept there won't be answers." Her glum response causes Ingrid to ignite a fire in her she hadn't known for a long time.

"We will keep trying until we find something. Have you tried that beacon thingy Kol was telling me about?"

"Yeah that was one of the first things we did, but it won't work because Caroline is cloaked." Freya stands there wondering where the redhead was going with this, considering her lack of knowledge with spells.

Sighing, she runs her fingers through her long straight hair. "Ok think about it. Caroline is a vampire, but she's also something else now that's causing her not to die even from deaths originals could die from." Ingrid pauses looking at the two witches who seem to be following her. "We've tried everything we could think of, contacted allies of yours that would keep a lookout for her, and we've set up a beacon to go off is she is somehow uncloaked. What if we alter that beacon though?"

"Alter it how?" Hope questions as she thinks over the different ways they could change how the beacon on Caroline works.

"Wherever she is we know she's probably been tortured...which is something I don't want to think about because it's too awful. But that dream you had confirmed that to us Hope, and that means she's died during these torture sessions most likely." Ingrid pauses once more to look at the Mikaelsons in the room.

Freya instantly catches on to where she's at along with Hope, "and we alter her beacon to ignite the next time she dies. There will be a window where she's technically not a vampire and a spirit because of that death which will allow us to track her." The blonde witch immediately moves into action working on what she needed to get the spell done. "That was genius Ingrid...thank you." The pair exchange a smile as the witches quickly get back to work and Ingrid returns to nervously pacing and biting her nails.

"I'm not a witch though," Caroline slaps her hands against her legs whilst staring at Kyros. "How can I even do what you're asking."

He stands there like the leader he so longs to be. The man's attitude begs for Caroline to look up to him, trust him. "It's much more complex than that. If this were a witches spell I would have my personal coven do it."

"So why me?" She questions whilst looking at him slowly trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. "I mean I know you've told me the stories about Rhea and everyone else, but you've also tortured me and kidnapped me. So that's a major point to why I shouldn't believe you."

Chuckling, Kyros turns and begins to slowly walk across the floors. "You are the doppelgänger of my wife may she not Rest In Peace, and you are one of the rare occurrences in this earth." He sits down in the chair nearby and leans in, "you are one of the 5 reincarnates of my original students. Which means you carry your counterparts unique abilities. That is all I'm willing to share on that story because keeping you somewhat in the dark is so much more fun."

"Wait reincarnates? Witch-vampire hybrids? What does this have to do with this person you need me to track?" Caroline pauses frustrated that she's trying to cooperate with this traitor. "Unless he's one of the 5." Realization crosses her face as she recognizes that Kyros is about to have 2 reincarnates with special abilities in his custody...all because of her weak will to resist.

It had been days since Caroline last saw Kyros, and their usual routine of talk, torture, and well torture had gotten thrown off by this. Every so often someone would come down to her cell and give her a few drops of blood, but not enough to return her full strength. The cage had been spelled to make the bars burn like vervain anyways, so escape wasn't entirely an option at the moment. Especially since she had no clue where she was inside this maze of a place and once she stepped foot outside there could be another world of dangers waiting for her.

Sighing, she looks down at the cuffs around her wrists, the pair that hadn't left her body since she was resurrected. They made sure to keep her special abilities locked away so Kyros was completely protected in her presence...not that he needed it considering he was a powerful witch or whatever. Being left to think for days did a lot for a girl, and it certainly did a lot for Caroline.

Where she once felt so much conflict and confusion, she now discovered a solid foundation. She was Caroline Elizabeth Forbes dammit, and Forbes women we're not wimps. Her mom was a fighter, a survivor, and a true warrior just like herself. Everything she had, Caroline had to fight for especially after she was left on her own in the world without Stefan or Bonnie or Elena.

Now sitting in this cage after days of being malnourished on blood and other necessities, Caroline decided she would comply with Kyros. Do exactly as he wanted because she would exact her escape plan in the moments where they retrieve the man she's supposed to track. At this point the vampire knew that to do the spell and take this person hostage for Kyros, her cuffs would have to be removed which would give her just the amount of time to turn on Kyros and make a run for it.

"I see you've been lost in thought lately," his smug expression boils her blood as she looks at the man she'd grown to hate more than anyone. "Oh don't look so down Care bear, I brought you a present."

Curious, but cautious she stands to her feet looking at Kyros who held out a cardboard box to her through the metal bars. Slowly she takes the box from him and sets it on the ground inside. Her skin crawled at the thought of accepting any form of a gift from him. The two now stand face to face once more as she waits for whatever he was going to say.

Caroline feels the familiar pull of magic and before she could react her body is pressed against the metal bars that burn her skin at the touch. A cry of pain escapes her lips before she could bite her tongue and appear strong, but either way she wasn't fooling anyone. He clicks his tongue in a mocking way a few times, "sweet Caroline your resistance was quite entertaining at first, but now it's getting very tiring. When you can learn the spell I showed you a week ago with excellence then and only then will you leave this cell. Until then practice, and in between that you have the box to keep you company." His grip that had found its way to her hair released in a shoving manor as he retreats from the cells area whistling in his usual fashion.

"Bastard…" she mutters under her breath as she plops down to the dirt ground once more. Her wounds are slowly healing now, but it would take a while before the stinging went away.

Late in the night Freya enters the compound pulling someone behind her. She giggles in a way her family had never heard before as the mystery man oogles at the large home, "I'm not the only person that lives here so don't think I own this all." She states in attempt to ease his wide eyed staring.

"Well if I had known you lived in such a big place I would've come to your place all those times instead of you just hanging at my apartment." Brett continues to eye the main area, taking in the scenes around him.

The woman standing before him, blonde and beautiful, gives a dazzling smile as she takes his hand and pulls Brett towards the staircase, "come on my room's this way." That smile turns into a sultry smirk that immediately reminds them both why they were there in the first place.

The past two weeks the two of them had met repeatedly after their first encounter at Rousseau's that led to an unforgettable night. After that they couldn't get enough of each other and didn't bother to hold back on that fact.

Down the hall as Freya's door shuts and the sounds of what was conspiring in there became relevant, Hope shuts her book quickly and grabs her things. "Where are you going?" Isaac questions looking at the witch confused.

"Anywhere but here, and just be very grateful you can't hear what's going on a few rooms down the hall." Hope pulls on her boots and grabs her phone before quickly rushing out of the Mikaelson home. "Just come with me," she calls after Isaac who is slowly and not so confidently following her.

For hours Caroline sat in that cell watching the box as the sun set and night claimed the area. Luckily her advanced sight allowed her to keep her focus on that box. Even though sleep called for her to relieve her exhaustion, that box wasn't leaving her sight for a minute. Any gift from Kyros was filled with ulterior motives. She learned that with the little information she'd gained over the past few weeks here.

Just as the sun began to rise and creep into the room she decided to pick up the box. Sitting it in her lap she stared at it for another half hour wondering what could be inside, and if it was booby-trapped. Finally she scoffs at her behavior calling herself ridiculous and flinging the lid from the box. "Oh…"

Inside Caroline finds the possessions she thought long gone for months. After she'd mourned the loss of her friend Ethan and the family she'd built in Tel Aviv, the crumbling estate left no hopes of recovering her lost artifacts. But now in this one cardboard box were the letters she'd never had the courage to open, the daylight rings she'd acquired over the years, a few other items from her childhood, and the engagement ring she'd never worn.

Slowly she picks the ring up that Stefan had used as a last stitch effort to save their decaying relationship over a decade ago. The nostalgia comes back in a flash, and all the memories of her first meeting with Stefan down to their developing friendship all come back to the surface. And for the first time in a while she let go and truly allowed herself to stop, grieve, and cry a little. Over the love she lost, the friend she wouldn't see for years, the friends that were murdered because of her, and the love that could have been if she wasn't so afraid of it then and now.

Just as quickly as those emotions came they were gone again, and Caroline turned her attention to the thick stack of unopened letters. She didn't want to open them honestly, and part of her had always planned to keep them that way. If they were untouched then she wouldn't see the words of a man that truly seemed to care about her. Opening those letters meant accepting in some way that the almighty Klaus Mikaelson was capable of love and did intend to 'be her last love.'

Closing her eyes tightly she imagines what he could've written to her for almost 15 years. Choosing her birthday to have them delivered made it almost exciting to the side of her that wanted to care and let him in, and it caused her to expect a letter that would go into that box. Shaking the thoughts away she reaches to the back of the stack and grabs the second oldest one this time, and tears the seal.

 _Dear Caroline,_

 _Today is the 7th birthday you have spent without your mother at your side, and I can imagine what you would feel today. I remember the first birthday I had after my family was turned, and the only feeling I can use to describe this is lonely. It won't be that way forever, I can guarantee you that. You'll have a thousand more birthdays and endless memories that will fade that pain to a dull ache. When my daughter turned one, we had to miss her birthday because our family made stupid decisions with enemies...my point is that if Liz could be here she would. If I could be there, not that you'd allow me to love, but if I could I would. Paris, Rome, Tokyo you name the place._

 _Happy Birthday Caroline,_

 _Klaus_

Sitting back and re-reading the letter it appeared to be the silly ramblings of a man for an attempt at a sweet gesture. Caroline knew the truth though, she knew to read between the lines, and understand that somehow in a very Klaus way he was being open and vulnerable with her. He was opening up to a woman he hadn't spoken to in years and the fact that he persisted for over a decade at this surprised her more than she'd like to admit.

Hope stands with Isaac in the Lafayette cemetery where the young woman had spent a majority of her short life. The werewolf eyes the area suspiciously as if waiting for an attack at any moment. "Most of the witches are off at some meeting outside of the French Quarter, so if that's what you're so worried about...don't be." She gives him a tight smile before walking towards the crypt that her uncle Kol once worked in with Davina Claire. The distant memory of the teenage witch passes through her mind as she steps inside the space lighting the candles simultaneously.

"What exactly did you come here for? No offense, but this is a whole lot creepier than the bayou on a full moon." He crosses his arms uncomfortably while rocking on his heels. The impatient and curious mannerisms were really starting to annoy Hope as she rolled her eyes at the young werewolf.

Sighing, she pulls a few items from the bag she'd brought with her and goes on a search for a clear map to use. "We are here to work on finding my friend Caroline. Which if you'd noticed that's what we've been doing for a while now," pausing Hope brushes a piece of hair behind her ear and looks down at the map to avoid staring into Isaac's honey brown eyes. "She's been missing, well she was actually taken, and I'm just trying to find her so she can go home or come home or I don't know." Hope slaps her palms against her thighs in exasperation as she ponders what will happen exactly when Caroline is rescued. Would she stay or would she leave again?

Hope had so many unanswered questions and all of that fueled and hindered her power in one swoop. Shaking her head she attempts to rid her mind of unwanted thoughts so she could focus on the task at hand. She had to set this beacon up in hopes that Caroline would trigger it somehow in the near future. Inside, Hope knew that she should tell someone about her separate beacon, but she was the one connected to Caroline. She was the one that had been having visions of the deaths she'd endured over the years, and Hope would damn sure be the one to find her. Of that the Mikaelson witch was determined.

"So you have a vampire friend that was kidnapped?"

"I never told you she was a vampire," Hope's cautious Mikaelson personality seeps through as she stares down Isaac with curiosity. "How did you know that if I didn't tell you?"

Pausing briefly, Isaac's own face turns confused. "I don't know…" The pair stare at each other as the wolf searches his own mind for how he could have known that Caroline was a vampire if he'd never heard of her, met her, or anything to do with the blonde before. "How did I know that Hope?"

'Because I told you Isaac,' the familiar eerie voice echoes through his mind. The hairs on his arms and back immediately stand on end as his posture becomes rigid. Terror courses through him, but Hope doesn't know why or how. She just keeps questioning Isaac what's wrong. 'Don't answer her,' the voice says sternly. 'You say one word about me and our _friendship_ and that pretty girl is dead.'

"No," Isaac growls out at the voice, but Hope backs away wondering what he was referring to. All he could understand in that instant was the fear that the voice was capable of hurting Hope, just as it had hurt him and destroyed his family.

'Good I have your attention. You're going to do me a favor Isaac, and it involved setting off that beacon for Hope's friend.' Immediately he knows whatever the voice wants him to do won't be good, but he knew it had to be done. To protect Hope, and she'd never know about the danger...hopefully.

Kyros sits in the small room he'd made for himself in the elaborate dungeons he'd discovered upon his resurrection. Meditation was always helpful, especially when that blonde twisted his anger in so many ways that he wouldn't be able to hold back much longer. So insead while he meditated, his mind drifted to Isaac. The dear boy had no clue who Kyros was, why he could creep into his thoughts, and he knew it terrified the wolf.

The fear that coursed through Isaac thrilled him, and it brought an excitement he hadn't felt in a long time. Because of Isaac's connection to earth (which no one but Kyros conveniently knew about) Kyros had the unique opportunity to tether to his mind from a young age. Just at the ripe age of 8 years old, Isaac had begun to hear the voice of Kyros in his mind, and no one else could hear it or even knew who it was. At first the bond was to earn Isaac's trust, but then one day as his parents discovered something was different with their son and Isaac told them of the voice in his head, Kyros had to isolate him. Show young Isaac that no one could be safe when he didn't listen to Kyros (or the voice as Isaac called him).

It was rather easy for Kyros to get a fire started in the family's home, and he simply guided Isaac out of the flames whilst making sure his entire family remained trapped within. The real catch was the guilt the wolf carried for the next decade about not saving his family, and that's what pulled him back into the voice's clutches.

Kyros had promised Isaac that nothing bad would happen to anyone he cared for again as long as he obeyed. And so he did obey, but Isaac never connected with people again. The wolf remained on the move, a true omega. Without a pack, without a family, and without anyone to care for him...but most importantly to Isaac, without leverage over his head for the voice to use.

Now that the wolf had finally allowed himself to be connected to someone, and it just so happened to be Hope Mikaelson; Kyros had plans that Isaac could do and would do without hesitation. What was a wolf without protecting its mate anyway right? Kyros smirks to himself as he watches Isaac regain composure inside the crypt where Hope watches him carefully. The pair had no idea of their deeper connection to each other, let alone the fact that they were both reincarnates of his old students. Fate has a funny way of playing with coincidences and really making him laugh about it all.

Disconnecting from Isaac's consciousness, Kyros walks out of his room towards the dungeons deep below the surface of his 'home.' There he found Caroline reading the grimoire he'd given her hours before, and it seemed she'd made progress. A few of the letters from Klaus Mikaelson were opened and sitting nearby, 'so predictable' Kyros thinks to himself. From day one he'd watched the interactions of Klaus and Caroline, and knew they were destined to end up together - not that he cared to believe in all that fate and destiny mumbo jumbo. Kyros was only concerned with altering what the Fate's had determined as destiny, and their version of this involved him locked away for all eternity.

"Discovering more about oneself?" He questions earning the attention of the blonde in the cage. "I see you read some letters, and that must have inspired you to work on what I need you to do."

"First of all, those letters are none of your business. Secondly, I understand the words and everything in this spell, but what I don't get is how I'm supposed to do it." Caroline stares up at him longing to just get free of this cell. That's all she had to do, comply for a short time and then she'd be free...and hopefully on the earliest flight away from wherever here was.

Kyros enters her cell and before Caroline could blink the pair were a mere foot apart. A tension that made the vampire quite uncomfortable and Kyros tingle at the power he held over her without her even realizing she'd given it to him. "You're ready, I can feel it." As quickly as he was standing there tenderly, the familiar pang of a stake pierces her heart.

He watches as her skin slowly grey's over, knowing she'd be down for a few hours. Just what he needed. Now the real work could begin. It was time to collect his Fates.

In New Orleans, Hope stood in awe as the map behind her ignited and burned a trail to where Caroline was. This was the break she'd been longing for, and now she was going to rescue her. "Hope what are you doing?" Isaac questions as the Mikaelson shoves random items into a book bag along with a thermos of blood.

"Caroline's beacon went off. I'm going to rescue her...and you're not going to tell anyone." She flinches slightly as Isaac growls, 'typical wolf.'

"Like hell I'm just gonna sit here and let you march into this alone." Isaac protests as he grabs onto Hope's arm to pull her back inside the crypt, "you're not going anywhere without me Hope."

"Well too bad for you," she states pulling a powdered substance from her pocket as she blows it in his face. Gently she lays Isaac on the ground as his unconscious body fell with her, and now he was sufficiently out of the way. "Let the rescue Caroline mission commence."

 **TADA! I actually finished this chapter that I thought would NEVER be done. The story is really about to take off and I promise Klaus and Caroline will reunite soon, but** **their story is far from happily ever after. They've gotta fight this evil together firstly and secondly they actually have to get over themselves and allow their stubborn asses to fall in love. Which will happen because this is KLAROLINE.**

 **Anyways without dragging this out further, please follow/favorite and comment to let me know how you're liking the story. Got any theories of your own as to what's going to happen?**

 **I don't own TVD/TO universe (wish I so desperately did)**

 **Always and Forever Loves**


	11. Chapter 11

**Fate**

 **Chapter Eleven - Loving Any of Us is a Death Sentence**

They say right before death a person tends to see flashes of their life just as the light fades from them. Caroline had a much different experience, and she could very well say her track record with death was growing dramatically over the last several years. The one true time she'd felt the sensations similar to what everyone describes death to be as was when Katherine first killed her in that hospital bed at the ripe age of 17. To this day she questions why it had to be 17 years old...why not 18 or even 20? Apparently she was to be stuck at that point forever, but oh well it is what it is and now she had to face the consequences of immortality.

Now she lays still, her skin greyed over for the hundredth time (not really, but she had lost count of how many times she'd actually died over the years) and the van she was in jostled her body around as it hit bumps and cracks in the road. If she were alive the blonde would probably be complaining about the impending neckache, but then again she would also be complaining about getting a stake through her heart too. Slowly but surely, Caroline feels herself become aware of the cool metal floor beneath her ripped clothes and her heart begins to pump what little blood she had in her system.

It was a miracle in itself Kyros hadn't decided to desiccate her at this point. She guessed he liked actual torture compared to watching her rot, but either way she was in a lose/lose situation. 'Not for long,' she thought to herself as the van came to a slow halt. Caroline opens her eyes slowly trying not to gasp for air that had been deprived of her for quite a while at this point.

Listening closely she hears Kyros and someone else climb out of the van and shut the door behind them. The spell she did previously to locate this mystery dude was set to travel wherever he went so they could find him at any time...which sucked for him but for her it meant freedom was close. The blonde slowly sits up and crawls towards the back doors of the van, and she looks down at the sight of her missing daylight ring. "Fantastic," she mutters under her breath before quietly pushing the doors open.

As she steps out of the van as stealthy as possible she notices the sun setting in the distance, 'perfect.' Remorse momentarily fills her as she spots a woman walking to her car not too far in the distance and Caroline flashes to the stranger as fast as her blood deprived body would allow. "You're not afraid, you won't run or scream. You are going to give me your keys wallet and forget you ever saw me." Caroline compels the woman in a monotone voice before letting her fangs drop and sinking them deep into the still figures jugular.

The warm liquid soothes the blonde vampire as she feels the strength returning to her. When she'd had her fill she pulls away from the woman knowing she could still live if someone found her, but that would leave a trail of possibilities for Kyros to find her. "I'm sorry, but it has to be this way;" Caroline states as she quickly snaps the woman's neck and takes her car keys and wallet with her.

She clicks the unlock on the keys as the chirp of the car sounds in the distance and she quickly moves towards it. Caroline knew if she didn't get out of here fast Kyros would have his goonies all over this place searching for her. Lucky for her the car she'd just stolen was a fast one and she quickly cranked it up and drove out of the parking garage she was in like a mad woman. As the car entered the main streets with the setting sun she noticed the familiar views, "that lunatic brought me back to New Orleans."

Glancing up at the street sign she notices she's not too far from the French Quarter…"well no time like the present to rise from the dead." Caroline easily navigates the streets and heads towards the one place she knew she would find safety...that just so happened to be the home of Klaus Mikaelson though.

As the sun was setting in the sky, Hope drove further and further out of the city towards northern Louisiana. The farther away she got from New Orleans the more she felt like she shouldn't have come alone, but she also knew no one besides her dad and Ingrid were truly interested in rescuing Caroline. Freya was invested in finding her, but she would bench Hope to wait at home until they returned or didn't.

So instead Hope decided to copy the spell she'd done with her aunt Freya and track the blonde vampire herself. This way she could ensure that Caroline was safely returned to them. As she looks down at the map where it had circled an area several hours outside of New Orleans the Mikaelson knew she didn't have much longer to go. When she'd finally pulled up as close as she was willing to get to the destination she got out of her car keeping her keys close at hand as well as a few weapons she'd learned to use over the years from her now Uncle Stefan.

The short trek into the wooded area wasn't too difficult since she'd prepared with walking shoes, but Hope wasn't expecting to see another flashlight not far off in the distance. Slowly the witch walks towards the light attempting to hide from the view of the person, "Hope!?"

"Aunt Freya? What are you doing out here," she questions as she quickly turns her own flashlight back on and attempts to keep her voice at a whisper.

The blonde Mikaelson stares at her niece in astonishment, "the better question is what are you doing here? You came by yourself too which tells my Niklaus has no clue where you are." Freya stares down the younger woman wondering if she should call her brother then and there to alert him of his scheming daughter.

"Please aunt Freya don't tell my parents. We're already so close to Caroline and if we leave now we might not ever get this close again. We need to save her while we can and work together on it. Dad can yell at us for poor decisions later," Hope pleads with her aunt that the pair could join forces and rescue their blonde friend then and there.

Against the older woman's better judgment she sighs and says, "alright. Let's go, but the minute something goes south we're leaving with or without Caroline."

Hope nods enthusiastically at her aunt, "affirmative. Whatever you say," the excitement builds in her that she'd finally get to see Caroline after so many weeks and a handful of those spent believing she was dead. Now she was going to reunite with the one person she seemed to have a link to that wasn't family.

As the pair near a single cabin in the woods they slow their steps. Neither of them knew what was behind the door and they weren't going to go in blind either. After scoping the place out thoroughly Hope and Freya had come to the conclusion that a majority of the guards here had left temporarily. Though they didn't know why, they were grateful for this little window to sneak in. Freya couldn't help this sinking pit in her stomach though, and still she pushed forward with her niece into unknown territory.

Late in the evening Brett walks towards his parked car in the crescent city. His eyes constantly drift towards his phone throughout the night as disappointment fills him wondering where Freya was, or what she was doing. Usually on a Friday night they would meet up at a bar and talk while drinking before retreating to either his place or hers. Tonight was different though, tonight there was silence - even Josh who worked/owned the bar they frequented hadn't seen her all day.

Suspicion and worry ran through him at a rate he hadn't experienced in years, but he quickly brushed it off knowing she would call soon or tomorrow. 'We aren't together anyways,' Brett kept telling himself as concern attempted to take over; but something wasn't right. Even the air felt like there was a shift in it, and the young man couldn't place a finger on what it was.

As he clicked his keys and unlocked his car not too far away from

him, a searing pain courses through his body. Clutching his head, Brett drops his keys to the paved ground and squints his eyes shut hoping to shove the pain out and press forward to his car which was a mere 10 feet away. But it was too much, and he felt the crunch of his knees hitting pavement before the pain stopped briefly.

"She's gone," a panicked voice stated from nearby. His eyes couldn't see what they were referring to though. "Should we go after her Teacher?"

"No let her go, she'll be back. Once she learns we have something she wants...or someone I should say." Another voice chuckled darkly and without seeing a face or hearing clearly through his slightly ringing ears, Brett feels a fear he hadn't known. "Kill him and load him up in the van. Let's get back to greet our new houseguests."

Just like that the world goes dark as a sickening crack echoes through the parking garage. A neck snapped, a body dropped to the ground and dragged towards a van that sped off towards the unknown.

Klaus Mikaelson spent most of his existence bringing fear to others, not feeling it himself. Yet somehow over the last few decades he has been surrounded, enveloped, and assaulted by that feeling of fear too often to count. Being on the receiving end of danger and watching people he cared for that were more disposable than his immortal siblings was something he never wanted to experience.

So now he stands in the compound pacing the floors angrily. Hayley sitting on the couch nearby dialing Freya and Hope's phones every minute. The panic rose as each time they went straight to voicemail, and no one could give them a clear answer as to where they were. Even Ingrid who knew nothing of how to truly help was out patrolling the streets with Kol in search of the two Mikaelson ladies.

Stefan and Rebekah had left the compound not long ago to search the bayou and ask around the werewolf territory if they'd seen any sign of the wolf princess. At each shake of a head, no answer to a phone call, and dead end their frustration grew higher. The littlest wolf of their family pack was missing, and the only person who could possibly be with her was also missing.

"Hayley," a voice calls out from the entrance to the compound. The Mikaelsons that remained in the area came rushing towards the sound as Isaac stumbled into the home. Though there were no injuries on him, the effects of some type of drug were still working through his system.

The crescent alpha steps forward looking over the young wolf a few times, "Isaac are you alright?" Hayley's concern is clear as the worry of what could have happened to her daughter weighs heavier and heavier.

"Hope's in trouble," he breathes out and before he could get any further Klaus had him pinned to the wall.

His eyes turned their golden shade as veins protruded from the skin beneath his eyes. "Where is she!?" Klaus screams as his grip tightens ever so slightly on Isaac's neck.

"Klaus," the two vampires left in the room yell as they attempt to separate the hybrid from the young werewolf. Hayley manages to break a few of the originals fingers and release Isaac, while Elijah pulls his brother back from the two wolves. "Now tell me what happened, we need to know everything Isaac."

The young man sighs fearing what could come from telling them everything, but that fear was overcome by the need to find Hope and protect her. "Well in that case I need to start from before I met you...when the voice first came to me."

"The voice? What voice are you referring to?" Elijah questions as he stands behind his brother who was being held in a chair by a firm hand on the shoulder.

"When I was a kid around 7 or so this voice started talking to me. First it was just in my dreams where it could reach me, and I remember being so afraid to go to sleep because of the things it told me. About reincarnates, prophecies, doppelgangers, and so much death. Too much for me to even understand." He pauses looking up at the three people staring at him waiting patiently (not so patiently in Klaus's perspective) for the story to continue. "Eventually the strength of this voice grew and it could reach me at any time of the day it wanted to, and this caused for my family to find out. I became this isolated kid that didn't have friends at school because I heard voices, and my parents who were werewolves didn't understand it either. One night I heard them talking about their plans to see a witch about the voice and find out how to break the link it had to me."

Isaac pauses remembering the details of his dark childhood so clearly, "they didn't survive the night. I woke up surrounded by flames and smoke. I couldn't even save them," he whispered as the deep grief and regret he felt for surviving filled him to the point it was visible to the others in the room. "My little sister and my parents died in a 'tragic accident' that night, at least that's what the police department ruled it as. Afterwards I skipped town and travelled with random werewolf packs until I was old enough to be on my own. That's how I ended up in New Orleans a few years ago. The voice always followed me though, and that's why I stayed away from the pack - and it knew about my special gifts...something I'd tried to keep hidden for so long."

"What gifts Isaac?" Hayley states whilst placing a comforting hand on his arm in attempt to ease the troubled young man before her.

"When I was a kid there was this thing where my hands glowed bright blue every so often, and I'm not sure why it happened - to this day I don't know what it was. What I do know is that when I triggered my curse I didn't turn like the rest of my pack. There was no traumatic, painful, bone-breaking experience. Just a simple smooth shift between man and wolf, and I stayed a wolf even after the full moon had disappeared."

Hayley watches him connecting the dots as he spoke, "you could turn at will."

"That's impossible though, you'd have to be a hybrid to do that which he is clearly not." Klaus states looking between Hayley and the wolf he'd clearly like to rip apart at the moment. "Sob story and all I don't get how this helps tell us where Hope is. I suggest if you want to keep your head attached to your body you should probably start giving meaningful information mate."

The young shapeshifter begins to sweat a little as Klaus glares at him darkly. "A few hours ago Hope and I left here after Freya brought her man-friend over. We went to Lafayette cemetery where she started doing some type of spell to find a vampire friend of hers. Well it worked somehow after a while and we got a location, except she was ranting about how I couldn't go with her. Before I could even argue she blew this dust or something in my face and everything just went black."

"Did she say where she was going? Or did you get a look at the map she was using?" Hayley urges him hoping they could get on her trail before she was too far away to be helped.

"No she didn't say, but I managed to snap a picture of the map just before I left the cemetery...and the map burst into flames too. It says she's somewhere near Natchez, but we need to go now. I think the voice I've been hearing has something to do with this and it's capable of killing my family." Isaac pulls out his phone showing the aged map that had a wooded area circled.

"Let's move out, we can't wait any longer." Klaus pushes his brothers hand off his shoulder and charges towards the garage where their many cars sat waiting to be used. Of course the hybrid immediately went towards the fastest one he owned that could take the 4 of them a couple hours away in less time than humanly possible. "If anyone here has a problem with me killing anybody who gets in the way of me and my daughter please exit now," Klaus turns to look at Isaac who merely buckles his seatbelt and lifts his shirt slightly to show off the gun he had hidden in his jeans. "Well then, let's get to it shall we."

Just like that the four of them sped away from New Orleans towards where Hope and Freya would be. What they didn't know, what no one knew was everyone was falling into Kyros' trap; and Caroline was driving through the French Quarter towards the Mikaelson home that was now empty.

 **Whatttt? 2 chapters in one week? I must be on top of things right now. Actually I just really wanted to write this and post it asap before my crazy weekend got here. So here is chapter 11 I hope you enjoyed it and there is more to come. Brace yourselves for a wild ride that's about** **to take off.**

 **As usual I don't own TVD/TO, and please comment, favorite, and follow for updates.**

 **Always and Forever loves.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Fate**

 **Chapter 12 - And Then You Were Gone**

In the early dark of night Caroline enters the Mikaelson compound and is greeted with only silence. She spends several minutes calling out the family's names one by one hoping to hear from anyone, but there was nothing. 'Maybe they left' she wonders as she enters one of the rooms with lights on. "Scrap that someone made this room smell like a temple," Caroline mutters as she coughs at the strong smoke from incense. So they definitely hadn't been gone long, but where did they go to?

As she moves through the home the sound of footsteps entering causes the blonde vampire to enter stealth mode. "Whoever you are, I saw you come in here and you're going to show yourself now." An unfamiliar man's voice calls from the entryway of the compound.

Caroline steps slowly out of the shadows and near the balcony to spot a tall black man who gives her a bright smile. "I'm looking for Klaus," she crosses her arms across her chest glaring down at the mystery man wondering who exactly he was. After her experiences for the past however many weeks she didn't know who to trust.

"Ah pretty blonde girl, vampire I presume since you know about Klaus and have lived to talk about him." The man point up at her as the attempts to examine and dissect ever detail about her. "I'm Marcel, a friend of Klaus's." Caroline nods her head at his name making note of it but remaining silent. "And your name is?"

"Aretha Franklin," she states as Marcel chuckles deeply.

"Alright I see how it is. That's fine don't tell me your real name Aretha," he laughs once again flashing his dazzling smile up at Caroline. "May I ask then why you're looking for Klaus?"

She pauses looking at him contemplating if she should tell the stranger anything at all. "I've been...gone for awhile and now I'm back. I just figured that I would stop by and tell him that I'm here now." Caroline contemplates her words momentarily as she wonders if given any other circumstance would she come running to the big bad hybrid. After thinking on it for a few minutes in silence as Marcel simply stares at her, Caroline comes to the conclusion that she would be here even if circumstances were different. She of course just didn't want to admit this to herself or anyone.

"So now you're here looking for Klaus after being...gone." Marcel's tone is skeptical obviously, but what else could she tell him? Certainly nothing about Kyros or the fact that she's a doppelganger/descendant of one of the first Fates.

She sighs and shakes her head attempting to keep her composure. The blonde vampire had spent so long without a real feeding that the hunger was beginning to get to her. "Yes and I'm also looking for Hope, I met her at Rebekah's wedding. She's been trying to reach me for a few weeks."

Just like that Caroline watches a lightbulb turn on above Marcel's head. "You're Caroline," he states as he quickly moves towards the stairs with wonder in his eyes. "Klaus told me about you over a decade ago, I just didn't put the pieces together when you said friend of Klaus's that's been gone. Man you have no idea the things he said about you when we got drunk enough for your name to come up." Marcel pauses seeing the confusion on Caroline's face. "Look, Klaus took off to Virginia about a month ago freaking out over something when Hope called. He left and came back a week later not saying a word about this impromptu trip, but he was more angry than usual Klaus angry."

Marcel's words trail off as he recalls the memory of Klaus returning to the crescent city and destroying one of the many rooms in this home. "Yeah it was because of me," Caroline looks down at the floor suddenly feeling like girly little Caroline once again. She closed her eyes trying to refocus on the situation at hand which was to find Klaus and the nearest blood bag.

"I assumed so, and Hope's spent a lot of time lately with Freya doing locator spells."

Caroline scoffs, "I know one of the rooms smelled like a candle shop when I walked in it...well my exact words were a temple but that's not the point." She blushes slightly as her babbling quickly ceases. "Are the blood bags around?" The blonde quickly places her hand on the railing of the balcony in hopes to hold herself steady, and that's when Marcel notices her blood stained clothes that were ripped beyond repair.

"What happened to you?" He questions as he examines her ragged state. Marcel pays close attention to her pale skin just close enough to be turning grey from desiccation. "How are you even walking right now," he mutters under his breath before quickly flashing the blonde to the kitchen where a fridge stocked full of blood bags were held.

She takes the fresh blood gratefully and quickly downs the whole bag and realizes she'll need a lot more than one or two bags to satiate her hunger. If she wanted to refrain from murdering anyone else anytime soon she'd have to drink several bags, "so are you going to tell me where Klaus is off to?" Caroline peers up from her second blood bag with curious eyes.

Marcel sighs and leans against the marble countertops as he rubs a hand down his face. "They're all out looking for you. Something about they finally got the locator spell to work today."

The blonde drops her empty blood bag on the table quickly and flashes around the compound in search of where they could have gone. "Where are they!" She screams in frustration upon finding no map, no phone, not a single hint of where they were heading to.

Klaus increases the panic of everyone in the car as he speeds out of the city. His brother checks his watch every few seconds begging silently that nothing would happen to his sister and niece, all the whilst his hand has a firm grip on Hayley's who merely stares out the window at the quickly changing scenery.

Isaac on the other hand was a wreck. He didn't even know why he was so distraught over this, and the wolf hadn't even known Hope that long. Against his normal judgement and instinct he felt the need to protect her, to find her and lock her away if he had to - which the brown eyed boy was sure Hope's father would agree with - just to keep her safe.

"Take a left up ahead," Hayley states breaking the silence as Klaus quickly whips the vehicle across a lane of traffic and pulls out in front of other cars to make the turn faster. "Klaus," she warns.

"Shut it Hayley, if you were driving we wouldn't be there for another hour. Thanks to my reckless driving we shaved half an hour off our time, and we've also evaded several police officers." The hybrid smirks at his last words but quickly returns to his stoic state of concentration. Speeding down the new road that was bringing them closer to their family.

Hope and Freya had wandered through the cabin to find a door that took them deep underground into a hidden area. Now the two Mikaelson witches were maneuvering through the stone walled area hoping they weren't setting off any alarms. "Aunt Freya," her voice trails off as the reach a long set of cells and discover one with the door wide open.

The pair approach the cell and discover chains on the walls along with an opened wooden box sitting by one of the walls. Slowly and cautiously they enter the caged area, "she was here I can sense her but she's been gone for a while."

"But she was here that's something right?" Hope wishes that they could've walked into this place and found her friend, been the heroes and rescued her. Happily ever after, and the end, but apparently that wasn't the plan as the cell door slams shut behind them and they begin to cough at the smoke the fills the area.

"Hope," her aunt calls out to the young witch through the smoke as she spots her niece on her knees attempting to breathe through the toxic fog. "It's lobelia." Freya mangages to cough out the words before losing consciousness in the smoke. Unbeknownst to her or Hope that their family had just arrived to rescue them.

Marcel spent the last 15 minutes watching a strange blonde woman, who just so happened to be Caroline (but he wouldn't even approach that deep rooted topic yet), frantically run around the Mikaelson compound in search of clues. The sun was quickly rising as a new day was dawning and the vampire found herself retreating to the shadows with the lack of a daylight ring putting her in a tight spot. Just as he was about to reach insanity from her behavior, Marcel's saving grace enters. "Marcellus? What are you doing here, I thought you'd be with Nik or out looking for Hope." Rebekah states as she looks from her former lover to the blonde tattered up vampire that slowly approached the edge of the balcony.

"Hi Rebekah."

"Oh my God. You're actually alive, bloody hell Caroline." The blonde original vampire flashed upstairs to get a closer look at the woman who'd been an enigma in her family's life the past month. "Also that whole coated in blood thing isn't a good look for you," she jokes which causes Caroline to laugh lightly for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Yeah I had planned on changing and taking a long bath when I got here, but then I was told that Hope and Freya left searching for me?" Caroline's confusion as to why the two witches would be so stupid astounds her. "Also where the hell is Ingrid?"

Rebekah smiles, "you've missed a lot in the last month or so."

"It's been a month?" Caroline runs her fingers through her matted her while trying to get a sense of time back. She'd been gone for a month, and probably longer than that considering she was trapped in someone else's body for at least a week. "I didn't know it'd been that long. There was almost no sense of time where I was. Hours turned into minutes after a while and everything blurred together."

She watched as Rebekah's look turns sympathetic and it was something she never pictured coming from the blonde original especially if it was directed at her. "Ingrid is off with Kol at the moment in search of you or Hope and Freya. Whoever finds you guys first so everyone split up. Stefan and I were scoping out the bayou area for clues but we couldn't find anything. So now he's heading to find Ingrid and Kol, and I came back here."

Caroline stands for a minute ignoring the droning voice of Rebekah Mikaelson as she thinks over what spell the two witches could've used to get a location. Then it dawns on her, the spell Kyros taught her would be the key to finding Hope and Freya. Before she could say a word to the two vampires before her the blonde flashes to the room that still smelled of strong incense from when Freya was there.

"What are you doing Caroline?" The original questions as she stands in the doorway watching her blonde counterpart move around the room to position candles and other objects.

"I'm going to track Freya and Hope," she states nonchalantly before refocusing on the task at hand.

Marcel who had joined them upstairs scoffs at her words. "That's insane. Vampires can't do magic blondie, everyone knows that."

"Tell that to the heretics I've met," Caroline murders under her breath whilst sitting down and concentrating. She centers herself focusing in just like Kyros had taught her recently and suddenly the candles in the room are all lit and burning brightly.

"How the hell…" Marcel states in amazement as he circles around looking at the large amount of candles that had just spontaneously lit. "Ok then do your thing blondie."

The room grows silent as Caroline recites the spell she'd learned to track down the mystery guy from earlier. Marcel and Rebekah stand back watching as the candles burn brighter and the wind picks up in the room suddenly. Caroline picks up a knife and sliced her hand letting the blood drip onto a map and mixes it with something the other vampires couldn't name.

"It's done. Let's go Marcel," she stands to her feet gathering a bag of some supplies before walking towards the door.

Rebekah stops them before they could exit the room," how is it done? I didn't see anything on the map that indicated where my niece and sister are." The frustration in her voice is evident which causes Caroline to keep her temper at bay.

"That's because the spell wasn't for the map to show me a location. It linked my mind briefly to give me visions of where they are...it's all in here," she taps her head before looking down at her clothes. "Do you or Freya have any clothes that I can borrow so I don't look like death."

Ingrid wanders around New Orleans just a few steps ahead of Kol who keeps a watchful eye on the pretty redhead as well as their surroundings. Ever since the pair had first spoken their connection had remained, and surprisingly enough the vampire wasn't going to deny that connection. He had no intention to, and somewhere deep inside he hoped Ingrid felt the electricity as well. "Why are we out here anyways Kol? If Hope and Freya were going to find Caroline I highly doubt she'd be hidden in New Orleans."

Her voice brings the Mikaelson out of his trance and refocuses his attention. He quickly surveys the area once more before speaking, "they probably didn't want you to tag along on their rescue mission. Apparently being human around here isn't an asset, just as Camille."

"Who?" Ingrid questions back wondering who the other girl with a 'C' for a name was. According to Kol's comment she was human and not an asset to Mikaelson missions. 'Well how helpful,' she thinks to herself wondering about the role she had to play in all of this. Was she really just some orphan girl who happened to be at the right place at the wrong time? Deep down the woman inside her that longed for adventure and her life to have more meaning than something mundane hoped that she had a bigger role to play in this story. The other part of her on the surface bubbling free loved the safety of humanity, and that's where she really wanted to stay...for now at least.

Kol's fingers snapping in front of her face pull her from her thoughts as they stop on a random street corner. "Little red don't tell me you daydream this often," he smirks as his eyes brighten with excitement from the wonder filled eyes that stared back at him. All of that came crashing down quickly though as someone approached them from the street.

"Atara," the man says as he stares at Ingrid who merely stares back at him confused. "Sorry I meant to say Ingrid, but your aura truly is just like hers."

"Who are you," she questions as Kol moves to stand slightly in front of her. The overwhelming feeling of safety brings warmth to her, but the adrenaline of danger has a similar feel that brings her body into a battle without her knowledge or consent.

The man holds his hands up in mock surrender, "I am only here to warn you and to be of assistance."

"Then talk. Before you lose your tongue," Kol's words are filled with venom that immediately frighten the man who seemed to be some type of witch and knew immediately who Kol was.

"The Teacher is here in Louisiana, he is the one who had Caroline. He's here for all of you and he won't stop until what he wants is in his hands. You are the only one that can prepare them with what's to come, only you can show the rest what they need to know. Defeat him or we will all be damned." Before Ingrid could ask any questions the man steps back into the main road and into oncoming traffic.

As the mystery man lays dead in the street all Ingrid can think about is how her hunch that she was truly involved with this story on a deeper level was right. The only question was how did she fit.

Back at the compound Caroline had taken the fastest shower she'd ever had and changed into a fresh pair of clothes that belonged to Freya. As she stands in simple jeans and a dark colored blouse she attempts to wipe the blood stains off of her scalp as much as possible. To her dismay it doesn't work as well as she'd like and time wasn't on her side at the moment - and so she quickly decided to leave the blood as is and deal with it later.

"Rebekah told me you were here," a familiar voice comes from the doorway of the room she was in and chills immediately go down her spine. It had been years since that voice had spoken directly to her, and even longer since she'd imagined seeing him again. "I just didn't know if I should even say something, but when I thought you were dead all I could remember was the last time we spoke."

Caroline sighs as she turns to face the person she'd given up on love over. "Stefan…" her voice trails off as she closes her eyes allowing the memories to sink back in for just a moment. After the moment passes she shuts the emotions for him off and locks them up tight to be dealt with later. "Can we please just have this conversation later? I need to leave and find Hope."

As she goes to leave the room he grasps onto her arm to stop her, "no I just need to say this. When you were dead it broke me, and even before that in Paris I was broken. It took me almost a decade to love someone, to open up to anyone that deeply again." He runs his fingers through his hair as he becomes flustered, "what I'm trying to say I guess is that you get this incredible second chance. Don't let your walls stop you from being happy."

"I have to find Hope," those were the only words Caroline to spill out as she shakes her arm free of Stefan's hold and exits the room. She finds Marcel in the car outside waiting for her. "I'm driving."

"Like hell you are, this is my baby. I have taken care of this car and kept it together for years now, no way am I letting you drive it on a rescue mission." Marcel sits protectively in the driver's seat staring at the blonde who merely stands staring at him.

She taps her foot impatiently whilst crossing her arms, "if this car is such an important relic then why even bring it at all? You're a vampire I'm sure you could get anything you wanted. So get out and switch because only I know where we're going." Marcel sighs reluctantly and unbuckles his seatbelt, "come on we don't have all day." As soon as he sits in the passenger seat Caroline is pressing the gas and darting out of the city towards the interstate.

In that moment Marcel's phone rings as the pair enter the ramp for the interstate that would lead them to Hope and Freya. As the vampire answers the phone the tension in the car increases tenfold while Caroline worries over her two Mikaelson friends and Marcel talks on the phone to the one Mikaelson she didn't necessarily care to hear from right then.

"Marcellus please tell me you've found something," Klaus states as he furiously kicks a tree in the abandoned area they stood at. The location they'd driven hours to get to was empty of Hope, Freya and Caroline - and all that did for the hybrid was increase his anger and thirst for blood.

A sigh is heard from the other line as Isaac, Hayley, and Elijah listen in to the conversation on speaker phone. "Actually we did, we're heading to a location now that we believe Hope and Freya are at...I'll send you the address.

Confusion crosses the faces of the vampires and hybrids staring at the phone, "who is the we that you are referring to Marcel?" Hayley questions as she scrunches her eyebrows waiting for an answer.

"He's referring to me, but I'm currently driving and following random visions of a location of Hope and Freya." The voice that comes through the phone shocks the hybrids standing there, but the wolf and elder Mikaelson who are more unfamiliar with the voice wait for the others reactions.

"Caroline…" Klaus is the first to speak as he feels his heart begin to beat at a rapid pace that he hasn't felt in a long time. "How - how are you with Marcel?"

She sighs on the other end of the line and Klaus can sense the tension through the phone, "that's a long story for another time. Let's shoot for after we find Hope and Freya. I'll have Marcel send you the location." Her words are short and the people listening in on their conversation could sense the history pooling between them.

Luckily Marcel turns his phone off of speaker mode and refocuses the hybrid on why he called. "Yeah we're heading about an hour or so away from you guys from what I can tell."

"What exactly gave you the location you're going to Marcel," the original questions as he still holds out for the hope that Caroline would want to stay once they rescued Hope and Freya, but that was a topic for a later time.

The sound of Marcel clearing his throat on the phone spikes the interest of the group of 4 parked near an abandoned building, "Caroline actually located them." Sensing the Mikaelsons on the line not following him, he elaborates. "She showed up at the compound about an hour or so ago looking for you Klaus, and when I told her - after a little interrogation - that you were looking for Hope and Freya she went into panic mode."

"Get to the point Marcellus," Elijah states as he straightens his suit out and climbs back into the well air-conditioned car.

"What I'm saying is blondie here isn't just vampire because she managed to do a locator spell on Hope and Freya and is now following their trail through some form of psychic visions."

"Send me the address and we will see you there," Hayley states as she quickly takes the phone from Klaus and hangs up leaving the two hybrids staring at each other in momentary anger as the worry bubbling beneath the surface for their family takes a backseat. "Don't let Caroline distract you from what we're trying to do Klaus."

"And how would she do that Hayley? We are all working towards a common goal to rescue Freya and Hope - our family. Caroline is willing to help with that and is currently risking herself to find them, may I remind you that she recently died and who knows what she's endured the last month." Klaus glares at the mother of his child whilst attempting to cool off from the fact that in just a short period of time he would see Caroline for the first time since he buried her body.

Hayley sighs and runs her hands through her hair in frustration. "You don't see it like I do Klaus. She is helping and I am grateful for that, but it's been 20 years since you last saw Caroline. A lot has changed for everyone since then, and like it or not she's not the same Caroline we knew back in Mystic Falls. Who knows what she's been up to for the last two decades, and I'm willing to bet if it came down to it she would abandon us all to save her own skin. Katherine taught her that when she was first turned and it will always be a vampire's instinct when it comes to people who aren't family."

"Are you done now or are we going to stand here and argue over this ridiculous topic instead of driving towards our daughter?" Klaus scoffs as he marches away and climbs in the car not caring to see if Hayley follows him. At this moment he could care less if she stayed behind

and walked home. But deep down, he knew she was right.

It was cold and the sound of water dripping is what Hope first woke to. The feeling of the cold and hard metal chains around her wrists and ankles immediately increased her discomfort, but when she looked up and saw Freya sitting across from her in a similar position her panic increased. "Aunt Freya," she calls out hoping that her miracle working aunt would find a way to get them out of this.

Freya groans and rolls her head to the side as it dangles down with her chin touching her chest. The witch had taken a harder reaction to the smoke that had incapacitated them earlier. "Please wake up, we need to get out of here." Hope's pleading voice is what slowly brings the blonde Mikaelson awake to stare at a worried set of light blue eyes gazing back into her own eyes. "Freya," her niece speaks once more as the witch's hearing re-centers and her vision becomes a little less blurry.

"Hope?" She's weak and any sense of magic within has been shut off due to the effects of the herb they'd inhaled. "Where are we," she questions as her head moves around to examine her own chains and the cold stone walls. A single window sits high up towards the ceiling allowing a little light into the room, and it's just enough to tell them that the sun had risen to the point of mid-day...maybe.

"We're in the place Caroline was held at I think." She pauses biting her lower lip attempting to be the strong Mikaelson she'd always tried to be. "I think this was all a trap by the guy that took Caroline, but I don't know why he'd want us."

Freya hisses slightly as a sharp pain ignites from her arm. Pushing up her sleeve reveals a small needle mark that must've happened between their capture and waking up. "I think we have another problem. Check your arms." Just as the witch suspected a similar needle mark could be found on Hope, "if I'm right this is probably poison or some form of a hallucinogenic. Either way our window to find a way out has shorted drastically."

A shuffling sound is heard from nearby as the pair immediately grow quiet to listen, "hello. Is anybody there?" A voice questions that has Freya attempting to stand up, but of course the chains would only allow her to go so far.

"Brett!" She calls out as her eyes widen when he responds to her voice with a panicked reaction. Hope merely looks up with the same wide eyed look asking silently why the Brett that her aunt's been seeing would be trapped in a cell just beside them. "How are you here Brett?"

"Uh I don't even know." He sounds so confused and afraid that the blonde sits down wondering why she even thought she could have happiness with a normal guy. "One minute I was in a parking garage heading to my car and the next thing I knew these guys were giving me a killer headache. They said something about a girl that got away and then...they were told to kill me. Did I die? Is this like the afterlife?"

Freya chuckles at the confused human wishing she could see something other than a stone wall that was separating them. "No you're not dead, but I have no idea how exactly you're alive if they did kill you." She wonders if his ability to not die is somehow linked to Caroline's stories of her own deaths. "Hope could you possibly use the connection I share with Brett to give us access to each other?"

"What are you going to do?" The young witch questions skeptically as she recalls all the times Brett and Freya had spent together and 99% of it involved a bedroom and not leaving it for hours. Confused at her aunt's plan, but cooperative, Hope takes Freya's hand.

Immediately Hope is met with a tingling sensation as visions flash through her mind. She shakes loose of her hold on Freya and backs away as far as the wall and chains would allow. "No…"

Driving down the road with Marcel silent beside her was a relief considering the phone conversation she had thoroughly avoided just a short while ago. After all she did technically come to the French Quarter specifically searching for Klaus, but when the opportunity to talk to him presented itself she was closed off. Whether she wanted to admit it or not the two of them shared a deeper connection, but of course Caroline didn't care to admit that and she probably wouldn't for a long time.

The silence welcomed all these rushing thoughts of Klaus and freed her from the constant wondering about Kyros and the stories he'd told her for weeks. At this point she had no idea if he was even telling the truth, but he'd also showed her about a magic she didn't know she had. It was all too confusing to deal with anytime soon, and just like the Klaus topic the blonde neatly packed them away and put them on a shelf in her mind to deal with at a much later time.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Marcel finally speaks up looking over at the blonde vampire/witch whatever who seemed so lost in thought as she mindless made turns down roads they were both unfamiliar with.

She shakes her head, "I'm good but thanks."

"I don't think you are, and we're about to walk into who knows what. If I can't trust my partner in rescue crime how can I go into this?" Marcel raises his brows at Caroline and realizes he'd actually grown to like her personality over the past few hours. She was definitely an anomaly in the vampire department, but she also had managed to catch the attention of Klaus Mikaelson and she reminded him a lot of something he once saw in himself centuries ago.

"Fine you want to know where my thoughts are? I really want to rescue Hope and skip town because I don't feel like handling the long talks about 'last loves' and 'however long it takes' crap with Klaus." She slaps her hands against the leather steering wheel in exasperation before refocusing on the road.

The 250 year old vampire stared at her skeptically before shaking his head at her mini-rant. "Are you quoting Klaus on that stuff or just making it up? I've never in my life heard words like that come from him though so I'd probably assume the second option."

"Nope," she states popping the 'p' and letting silence follow her for a moment. "He said all that trust me. It was when I was a lot younger and didn't know anything about the world or living. Somehow he claimed to have fallen for me and told me that he intended to be my last love however long it takes. So for the past 20 years I've had that promise looming over my head, and that's exactly why I refuse to do the whole dating/romance thing anymore."

"Why? Because you're waiting to be his last love?"

"No because he makes those promises and ruins everything." Caroline rolls her eyes as Marcel looks at her and examines the words they'd shared briefly.

"I think you avoid romance because you know someday you're going to accept his promise of last love. And you're afraid that when you do he'll have moved on and broken his promise. We're a lot alike Caroline."

"How so oh wise sidekick?"

"I grew up around the Mikaelson family. They rescued me from being a slave over 200 years ago and I was barely 10 years old when they took me in. Over the years I spent getting to know each of them I grew especially attached to Rebekah, and I even vowed at one point that someday I would marry her." He chuckles at the irony considering he was a groomsman in her wedding recently. "Obviously things changed after a few centuries, but my point is that after Rebekah I didn't have lovers. There were flings or whatever you want to call them, but no one that I could connect to. I understand you had that with Stefan at some point and then something went down that ended things. Don't let fear of being alone in the future ruin your chance at happiness in the present."

Marcel returns to face forward in his seat and remains silent for the rest of the drive. Leaving Caroline to think over his words, specifically about happiness and how similar those words had been to what Stefan had said before she'd left the compound today. Happiness and love were things she hadn't known for a while, and as long as Kyros was at large she deemed it fair that she didn't have that.

A few hours had passed since Freya and Hope had awakened and in that time Hope remained silent staring at her aunt and letting tears roll down her cheeks. During this time Freya had attempted to break the news of the supernatural universe to Brett as gently as possible, and then the silence returned when someone came and took Brett from his cell.

"The fever should set in soon, and there's a chance we could experience hallucinations of some form. It's almost like a werewolf bite for witches if I'm right." Freya states as she looks down at the mark on her arm and then back at her niece who just stares at her. "What did you see Hope? Please just tell me, we can't do this whole silent treatment thing right now."

Shaking her head the tears roll down at a faster rate now, "I don't want to say it because I don't want it to be real. It can't be right." Freya watches Hope as she recalls seeing her niece's eyes turn a silver color when she touched Freya earlier. Sighing and attempting to collect her emotions, Hope knows her aunt is right. "When I touched you I had these flashes. One was from a really long time ago and you were pregnant and then you drank something...I guess it was poison because then when you woke up you were alive but you weren't pregnant anymore." Hope trails off as Freya recalls the same memories of when Dahlia had taken the first person she'd loved in her long lifetime.

"Then it changed, and we were here in the cell. There was a full moon rising, and you were dead. My eyes were glowing too...I think I had triggered my curse." Hope stares at Freya with fear, worry, and so many other emotions running through her.

"The full moon's tonight Hope," she states looking up at the light that seeped through the small window. It wouldn't be too long before the moon began to rise. "I think I know what that vision meant, but you're not going to like it."

Hope shakes her head at the one woman she'd spent her whole life with that understood magic. Kol of course had been there but he couldn't practice with her, and her mom just did the wolf thing. Her dad had always just been there teaching her art and about the world just like uncle Elijah had done when she was younger and learning things she was supposed to go to school for. Through it all Freya had been there, been the one she could make magic with. The one who understood her weird dreams when she woke up in the middle of the night. She couldn't...no she wouldn't die.

"Hope there is poison flooding our system right now. We don't have long to go either way, but if you trigger your curse your body will fight off the poison. Especially since it's a full moon. You'll heal faster and you can get out of here."

"No! I'm not doing it, there has to be another way." Hope shakes her head ready to explode and scream at her aunt, at anyone really. Even Caroline for even stepping into their lives. She wanted to blame someone for this predicament, but really her idiot teenage decisions got them here. When she realizes this the tears come in at full force, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry Freya. This is all my fault." She mutters the same phrases repeatedly knowing that if they'd called for help things could be different.

"Hey, hey none of that right now missy. You're going to be just fine and I will be too. I've lived long enough and I know that if I can get you out of here by dying then it'll be alright." Freya smiles at her niece for a moment and then chooses to change the subject. "If this truly is to be my last hours I think we should have the last words talk."

Hope laughs letting her head lay back against the stone walls, "well then can I just say one thing. Brett totally doesn't deserve to lose you. He cares about you, like genuinely does not just for late night booty calls."

"You're not supposed to know what that means."

"I'm 18 aunt Freya, I've seen movies and heard all of you at some point in our house." Hope laughs when the elder Mikaelson blushes for a brief moment.

Freya sighs and looks at her niece in a serious tone. "Don't ever do drugs and drinking isn't all that fun, but if you decide to drink don't drive. Also don't go home with strangers after drinking that's almost always a bad choice." Then she looks at her niece who seems to be sweating at this point, and both of them realize more time had passed and the sun was setting in the sky slowly.

The elder witch quickly refocuses on her niece who's attempting to listen to all of the words of wisdom being poured into her. "There will come a day when you fall in love. And he or she will be perfect in every way for you. Whatever you do don't introduce them to your father for a very long time firstly, but secondly don't be afraid to show them who you are. Always be yourself my darling niece because you are unique and special in every way possible." Freya manages to meet Hope halfway across the room and place a gentle hand on her niece's cheek. "I also see the way Isaac looks at you, and the way you look at him when neither of you think the other is looking. He cares too, and don't let anyone stop you from having a first love. He may not be your last love, but first loves are always epic and unforgettable."

Hope smiles through her feverish mind knowing that she would always treasure her aunt no matter where they went. "Please don't leave me. I'm not ready," she pleads reaching to hug Freya as best as she could with the chains around them.

"It'll be ok Hope. You'll get out of here and then give them all hell for this. You are a Mikaelson, don't ever forget that." Freya looks up once more as the sun is setting quickly, "do it now." She nods to Hope knowing it had to be now or the fever would kill them both soon.

She squints her eyes shut as her lip trembles and her hands reach for Freya's neck. A sickening snap is heard a few minutes later followed by Hope's eyes opening in a glowing yellow color and her screams echoing throughout the dungeons.

Caroline parks the car and runs towards the cabin that she'd recognized from her visions. Marcel was hot on her trails as they heard another car pull up that had been speeding towards the location. Hayley and Klaus jump out of the car first leaving the car running as Elijah and Isaac follow at a slower pace.

The blonde vampire pays no attention to the group following her through the cabin towards that door that led to the underground bunker. She pauses momentarily and looked through the window of a room that held a single table, a set of chains, and blood that stained the walls. Visions of the weeks she'd spent in that room being tortured in various ways for hours at a time shook through her. Though at the sound of sobs coming from a distance, Caroline flashed towards them.

Klaus on the other hand pauses to look into that room as well. Seeing the room he knew why Caroline stopped, and his stomach dropped at the thought that she'd spent weeks here. Now his daughter and sister were here for mere hours. He'd never felt this weak and powerless in his life, and the hybrid would gladly and openly admit he hated this feeling.

He's pulled away from the gorey sight by Elijah who slowly leads Klaus down the corridor Caroline had went down. "Hope," they hear Caroline's voice come from afar and Klaus stops when he sees the blonde standing outside of a cell staring in. The hybrid immediately flashes towards the door to see his daughter sitting in chains with his sisters head in her lap.

Freya's neck had been twisted at an awkward angle and the original immediately knew her neck was snapped. "I did it. Please, please please come back aunt Freya." Hope sobs as she brushes her aunts hair from her face begging whatever was out there to give her back her aunt. It was too late though.

The night passed in a very eventful way. Hope had triggered her curse on a full moon and was rushed to an isolated wooded area where Hayley kept a close eye on her for her first turn. In the time following their discovery of Freya's body, Caroline and the remaining people had searched the dungeons thoroughly. The blonde had entered the cell that once belonged to her and taken the box she'd left behind with her. Luckily she found a daylight ring from years ago that Bonnie had made to slip on for the meantime.

When the group had finally arrived home there was complete chaos from the rest of the Mikaelsons as well as Vincent upon hearing the news of Freya's death. The days after returning home flowed into one big mess of sympathy visits, Caroline baking and cleaning a lot, and a funeral for the fallen Mikaelson witch in classic viking style.

Hope now sits on her bed staring at the floor and holding the last gift Freya had given her. It was a necklace with a special stone in it that was for her 18th birthday. She now clutched it close to her wishing it would somehow manifest her aunt and erase the past several days. "Too many people have died," she mutters to the blonde who stood in her doorway now.

She doesn't look up at Caroline walks into her room and gently sits beside Hope on the bed. Placing at hand on Hope's knee the vampire attempts to comfort her as best she could. "Loss never gets easier, but I can promise you that the pain does hurt less over time. I didn't believe that at first when I lost my mom, but here I am 20 years later and I still miss her...but it doesn't hurt like it did."

"I wanted to blame someone. You for bringing all of this to us, my family for having so many enemies and always believing we were invincible. I want to blame anyone for this, and even Freya for seeing this was the only way. The truth is though that if I had just waited and called for backup that she wouldn't be dead. So this is my fault."

Caroline shakes her head and takes hold of Hope's hand, "none of this is your fault Hope. This is Kyros, everything that has happened is his fault. It's been his plan from day one, and he's been making us his puppets for too long now."

"Someone needs to pay for this. Freya was to good for this kind of death."

"Then let's make him pay," Caroline states as Hope looks up for the first time at the blonde with tears in her eyes.

"How?"

"That my sweet magical Mikaelson is my cue to tell you a story. It's about a man named Kyros who was once the teacher of 5 students. It's a tale of how he was willing to sacrifice the people he called family for power, and how they allowed this event to change the course of supernatural history forever. It's called the story of the Fates."

 **Ok this was literally such a long chapter, and I had been planning it from the beginning so please don't hate me for it.**

 **Another storm is coming so I was** **trying to get this done before that. As always I don't own TVD/TO and please comment, follow and** **favorite.**

 **Always and Forever**


	13. Chapter 13

**Fate**

 **Chapter Thirteen - What Will I Have Left?**

"So you're the doppelganger of the Teacher...I mean Kyros' wife that he murdered along with his four other students? And he's back from some supernatural purgatory that past you and other Fates sent him to." Hope states as she looks at Caroline quizzically wondering how all of this could be possible. Their lives were weird enough already with the supernatural drama, but this was just taking it a step further. She runs her fingers through her hair as she attempts to wrap her head around the information she'd just had delivered.

Caroline sighs and shakes her head in agreement with the young Mikaelson's reaction. "I know it's a lot to take in, but that's what I learned. There's still some stuff that doesn't make sense because Kyros was and still is extremely cryptic about the information he shares. Something just doesn't seem right with why he came back in the first place. He never said why, but I just have a bad feeling about it." The blonde vampire repeats her habit of sighing and shaking her head before allowing her body to relax slightly.

"Why didn't you mention this sooner? It's been days since you came back from the prison," Hope immediately knows the answer to that question when it leaves her lips. "Oh...because of."

"Yeah. I couldn't dive right back into all of this just when we had buried Freya. You can't do that either. I know you two were really close and I can't imagine what you've been going through." Caroline places a comforting hand on the witches arm wishing she could somehow make all of this better. "Once this is all over we will find a way to bring her back. I promise."

Hope oddly shakes her head at the blonde's words. "Right now all I'm concerned with is making Kyros pay. If we were never taken then Freya wouldn't be dead...but if I hadn't taken her then she would also be alive right now. So technically this is just as much my fault as it is his."

"No Hope. Don't blame yourself for this, that helps nothing and no one. Freya wouldn't want you to blame yourself either. She knew what was happening when the poison entering your systems, and she also made a choice to save your life. She was willing and ready to sacrifice herself for you to live. Now it's up to you to make that worth it. Don't mope around for her loss, avenge her."

"They've been locked away in there for days. This needs to end now," he paces the floors downstairs in the library whilst his siblings and Hayley attempt to calm the tyrant within down.

"Hope is grieving Niklaus. She comes out to get food and if that's how she wants to handle this for now then let her." Elijah states as he takes another sip of his scotch and watches the unceasing pacing from Klaus.

Hayley stands to her feet attempting to stop Klaus in his tracks but he merely shoved past her and continued his movements. "He's right Klaus. We all miss Freya, but Hope was there and it's going to affect her differently."

"The full moon is in just a few days," Klaus practically yells as he turns sharply pointing a finger in Hayley's face. "She will experience her first turn ever and then what? Her grief will swallow her whole with the pain of that first transition." The anger is growing within the hybrid as he stares at his family who seems to be doing nothing about the young Mikaelson upstairs who'd just triggered her werewolf curse and lost her aunt in the same day.

"Oh come on Nik we know the pacing and rotten attitude isn't just about Hope. There's a pretty blonde upstairs with her right now that's been avoiding you for days. I'm sure that's getting under your skin a little," Kol pokes at his brother like a bear in a cage. Not to be tempted with, but Kol being himself loved to see Klaus react to his little jabs.

A satisfactory smile comes to his face when Klaus growls slightly. "Caroline has nothing to do with this. She was missing and now she isn't and she is welcome to stay as long as needed. Outside of that she is merely here for Hope." He didn't believe his own words though. By the stars all he'd wanted since coming down from the cloud of grief over Freya was to see her. To talk to her, to he doesn't even know what he wants; but he knows he wants it with her. "The point is that my daughter is struggling and what are we going to do about it?"

"She's not a child anymore Nik. I think the best thing we can do is offer her a shoulder, and tell her that we're here for her. If she doesn't want that then it's her choice." Rebekah finally speaks up as a voice of reason in the midst of the others in the room. Even if her words aren't what he's wanting to hear.

Finally after a long pause, he sighs. "You're right as much as I hate to admit it." Kol laughs at his brothers words, "if you ever mutter a word about this I will have your tongue little brother."

Several hours later Hope had finally left her room while Caroline left to call Bonnie and catch up with Ingrid for a little while. The redhead had actually gotten a job at Rousseau's and had been saving up money to rent an apartment in the French Quarter. As the young witch stood in the kitchen making a snack, someone she'd been avoiding herself walked in the room causing her to speed up her actions.

"Please don't run," he croaks out barely above a whisper. Yet with her heightened sense of hearing she knew exactly what he was saying. His caramel brown eyes looked up into her piercing blue ones and it was like time stopped. But only briefly, and then reality set back in.

Hope quickly finishes making her sandwich and prepares to leave the kitchen for her room once again. "Hope we need to talk about this."

"I have nothing to say to you Isaac. We were somewhat friends or whatever until I found out you somehow knew what was going to happen to my aunt and I," there's a short pause in her words as tears well in her eyes. From the loss of her aunt, the grief of his betrayal or both, she didn't know. "You didn't say anything;" the hurt in her eyes is evident as his own eyes plead with her. "I - I can't do this right now." And so he watches as her auburn hair flips around and she darts towards the stairs. Not a minute later the sound of her door slamming shut can be heard from where he stood.

"Shut out again I see," Kol's voice comes from nearby as he leans against the wall watching the scene that had just unfolded. "She's a Mikaelson mate, you need a grand gesture of some sort to win her over. Then she'll reject it and a few weeks from now she will realize that you were only trying to protect her."

His words seem sincere and Isaac smiles at him slightly. "I don't care if she hates me as long as she's safe. I didn't tell her about the voice because he told me he would hurt her if I did." He shakes his head at the ridiculousness of it all, "I just don't get how she doesn't see that."

"The answer to that one is a lot simpler than the whole Mikaelson ordeal. She's a woman."

"I just don't get it Bonnie. It's been days since I escaped Kyros and Freya's death, but there's radio silence from him. He hasn't even tried to take me again," Caroline paces paved alleyway she'd retreated to for her phone call as she watches for any sign of the teacher or his missionaries.

The blondes frustration and confusion grew by the hour when they'd made no progress on tracking down Kyros. She wanted him to pay just as much if not more than the entire Mikaelson family combined. "Take a deep breath Care, this is good thing in a sense. You don't want an evil villain breathing down your neck all the time. Use this time to learn about him, learn more about the legends and get stronger because sooner or later he will be back. The big question isn't when but will you be ready?"

She sighs taking in her friends words, "when did you become so wise Bonnie Bennett?"

"When I had two children get of age to ask the 'where to babies come from' question." Her comment changes the mood immediately as the pair laugh at the mental picture of Bonnie's flustered appearance answering that particular question to young curious and very innocent minds. "They miss you, you know." Bonnie states in a somber tone as she looks to the couch where her two children watched cartoons before bed with their dad. She wished deeply at times like this that they weren't born into a world of supernatural creatures. Their mother being a witch and their aunt being a vampire/whatever else she was becoming didn't help the matter much. Well on top of that their other aunt was in a coffin cursed to sleep until after their own mother dies.

"Bonnie? Earth to my witchy friend," she hears Caroline chuckle when the Bennett witch apologizes for not paying attention and asks the blonde to repeat what she'd said. "I said to tell Abbi and Aaron that I will be back soon and whenever it is I will bring early/late Christmas presents."

"I'm sure they will love that Caroline. Don't spoil my children too much," Bonnie's words are stern but her longtime friend can sense the underlying playfulness that simply was Bonnie. "I've gotta go actually Care. It's bedtime for these two and Graham will not remind them to brush their teeth if I leave them alone." Caroline laughs as she can practically hear the eye-rolling through the phone before bidding her friend goodnight and ending the call.

As she returns to reality standing in the alley outside of the Mikaelson home, she wonders what life would be like if she'd just stayed in Israel instead of returning. It's officially been a little over two months since that tragic day when all of her building, planning, protecting, and fighting for that place had been lost - and the nightmares of her time there still plagued her at times. Other nights she was forced to relive her time with Kyros and the days when he'd begun to actually torture her.

Caroline shakes her head attempting to rid herself of the dark thoughts and re-enters the compound. "You're Caroline aren't you," an unfamiliar voice states just as she crosses the threshold inside. Her skeptical and cautious look must have been incredibly readable because the man smiles and holds his hand out for her to shake. "I'm sorry you obviously don't know me. I'm Vincent...Freya and I were close friends and we practiced a lot of magic together."

"Oh you're her witch friend. She mentioned you to me a few times." Caroline takes in the man's appearance and whilst she did see the allure Freya may have had over recent years to him, she could sense the underlying intention in him. He would most certainly take care of his people and himself when it came down to it, and if that meant betraying a Mikaelson or anyone else he would do it in a heartbeat. At least that's what her gift told her.

Vincent smiles curiously as he notices Caroline staring him down and reading him almost like an open book. "What do you see," he questions immediately recognizing the look in her eyes. "I can feel the power in you that isn't vampire, so what do you see?" The tall dark man questions again when the blonde steps back in slight shock.

"You're a witch obviously and I knew that from Freya, but you are fiercely loyal to those you consider family. You'd do anything for them even if it meant betraying those that trusted you most, and that includes the MIkaelsons." Caroline states staring down the man whose eyes went slightly wide, "oh and there's this fear always bubbling up in you when you can't remember things. Like you have some spaces where there are major gaps in time that you can't remember, and that terrifies you. It makes you wonder who's inside your head." Caroline's last words come out as most of a question than a statement as she catches Vincent's eyes staring at the white smoke that pooled from the blonde's hands and filled the ground around Vincent.

"I think you and I need to have a private talk."

Niklaus Mikaelson was known over the centuries for his brutality, his unending list of murders, and his clean streak of never letting anyone truly into his heart. Over the last several decades that short list of people had grown to a list he couldn't even begin to comprehend - one he wasn't sure he wanted to understand. As he stands over one of the many fireplaces in their home nursing a glass of bourbon, he attempts to connect to the elder sister he'd gotten so recently and lost too soon. "It's alright to feel Niklaus," his brothers voice sounds from the doorway. The voice of reason in his life that always managed to dig under his skin when he really needed it, but didn't quite want it.

"I do feel...I feel everything 'Lijah. That's the problem." His words are ground out through his teeth as the elder Mikaelson recognizes similar tendencies in Hope that Niklaus had done for centuries now. Elijah is pulled from his observations as his brother speaks up again. "I have spent over a thousand years only allowing myself to care for family; that was our way of life. Family above all always and forever, and occasionally someone would come along like Marcel that would stick and join that promise, but it has always been us. In the last three decades we have gained a sister, lost two brothers - though Kol was brought back - our mother was brought back twice and she only betrayed us, my own daughter was threatened before she was born, Hayley was murdered and turned just for being a mother, and then Jackson who personally was just a pawn in my plot to have a wolf army was killed in the crossfires of this cursed life. The list goes on and on over the last thirty years, and somehow the universe decreed that this would be the time in my existence that I would have a child, gain family members, have actual friends, and fall in love with the one woman I could never deserve."

Klaus sighs after his long explanation of pent up emotions and Elijah merely clears his throat and pours himself a drink. "Centuries ago you told me that love makes us weak and we are not weak. That was the rule you abided by from almost a millenia ago when you closed your heart off from anyone that wasn't family. Hundreds of years passed before you found Marcellus and I believe he managed to crack pieces of that cold exterior that believed you are someone incapable of love or being loved in return. Even after that as more time passed you were brought to that small town of Mystic Falls where a young vampire managed to be brutally honest with you, and I believe she broke through that rough exterior to the man within wanting nothing more than to be seen." Elijah chuckles as his brother stares at him in confusion, "yes I do know a little about how you and Miss Forbes first met. Rebekah filled me in after the wedding. My point was that this woman noticed the man and not the beast you so desperately want people to see, and I believe she paved the way for Hope to come into your life. She showed you that someone can be compassionate, loving, and loyal unconditionally; and that's what you craved most. Someone to understand you - she does Niklaus, and she like your daughter care for you. If she didn't Miss Forbes would have left town already."

"The point Elijah?"

"The point dear brother is that love makes us strong. Love builds onto this family when it's the right people. You have Hope and all of us, but you don't have anyone to stand by you that isn't blood and that will see the man within that even we can't see some days. So Niklaus what I'm trying to say is a good word of advice - talk to her and be honest."

"So how long has that been happening?" Vincent questions Caroline as soon as the pair had reached the Lafayette cemetery. They'd both agreed privacy away from the Mikaelson's was the best choice in this situation, and so the sneaking away was required.

The blonde scratches her head briefly, "uh maybe a couple of years? All I know is one day I was staked and I died, but a little while later I was alive again. After that my friend that knew about this helped me test every theory possible and no matter what I'd always come back to life. Then my vampire abilities heightened and suddenly I was like an original in the sense of strength and gifts. The sun burned but didn't kill and I could compel vampires. My original theory was someone did a spell that turned me into an original but that didn't make sense because suddenly it was like I was looking at people and seeing everything about them. Just like earlier I could tell your intentions weren't to harm me which is the only reason I'm here right now and you're not dead."

Vincent stares at the vampire briefly wondering what had turned this beautiful woman into someone so guarded and cautious. His guess was time did it and being in this supernatural world.

"Time did do it, but also being surrounded by the Mikaelsons for a little over a year did the trick. My time traveling the world and exploring for myself only added to that - it made me a woman instead of the young girl that was tragically turned at 17." She states as the smoke comes from her hands once again and the pair stare at it as it pools around the floor. "That's just a side effect of sorts from using my gift. It's technically not mind reading because I can't hear your thoughts, but I can sort of sense your intentions or what you're thinking of at the moment if it's really strong."

"Hmmmm. Didn't you just come back from being kidnapped or something for a while?"

"Yes by the same guy that took Hope and Freya and forced that poor girl to kill her own aunt to save herself." Caroline's words are bitter as the pure hatred she felt towards Kyros was present in the front of her mind. Briefly the smoke turns black but she quickly catches herself and reels her emotions back in. "Sorry I just hate that man so much that my emotions run wild at times - black smoke is a bad thing. I watched it turn a man to ash once."

"What was his name?" Vincent questions as Caroline looks up attempting to peer in his mind once more.

"Kyros or as he liked to call himself - the Teacher."

Vincent sighs as he runs his hands across his face and shakes his head. "Help me find this book real quick. It's brown and leather, really big, and there's a tree engraved on the spine and the front." He doesn't even glance at the vampire as he moves to one of the shelves to search for the book. Caroline stares at him for a moment before moving into action and searching another shelf for the book Vincent was searching for. "I found it!" He exclaims after a few minutes of frantic looking.

Caroline helps clear off one of the stone tables for the big leatherbound book to sit on. Dust covers the old relic as Vincent sets it down and dusts it off, "what is this about?"

"You said the Teacher and I knew immediately that these two things were connected. We never knew him by the name Kyros, but I guess that means he's truly back and powerful enough to reveal his name without caring the consequences."

"How could there be consequences in knowing his name Vincent?"

"There's power in knowing someone's name. That's where spells and magic get their grip from when you're directing them towards someone. If you don't know their name or have something of theirs then the spell is basically useless. That's not the point though, what I'm looking at is a prophecy written who knows how many centuries ago. It's about the Teacher and his five students."

" _Long before the time of vampires, before magic became divided, there was a village that was home to many of the supernaturals. The legend of Silas and Qetsiyah having transpired here just a few years prior. A man lived a peaceful existence with his students, and each student possessed gifts that were like none other in their community. One with the gift of knowledge, another with sight, one from the earth and the other of fire, and finally the huntress. Each holding a power like nothing seen before. Soon when this power grew beyond measure their Teacher became filled with envy and wanted this power for his own gain. So he slaughtered them all in a sacrificial ritual to take their power as he consecrated their bones to the earth. This backfired when they all learned of his plans and in their deaths the two unknown realms were created - one to be their eternal safe haven and the other a purgatory just for him. The five students became known as the Fates to their villagers as they now stayed in their realm protecting and watching over the supernatural balance, but their Teacher vowed to escape his prison one day and enact his vengeance on his former students and their reincarnates."_

"That's where the story ends really," Vincent states as his eyes skimmed over the story once more. "It was always very vague and not something the witches here believed to be important to us. No one has communicated with the Fates in hundred of years, and so the witches on the Other Side became the guiding hand for balance instead and their legend was slowly forgotten."

"Well that's not depressing at all," Caroline shakes her head looking at the book in front of her. She spins it around to read over it and the pair watch as the wind shifts and the heavy pages begin to rapidly turn until they stop on one page towards the back of the book. "What's this?"

"I've never seen that page before," he says coming around the table to look at where it landed. "This says the gifts of each Fate...and I'm assuming when the legend mentioned reincarnates there's a piece of this we don't know of and these reincarnates share the gifts."

Caroline looks down at the lines and slowly reads them. "The Fate of knowledge possesses the ability to see the past and use that to learn from it. Astral projection is also a complement of this." The blonde pauses wondering if she knew anyone like this, but her mind runs into a wall quickly with that question. "The Phoenix Fate - huh that's a cool name - has the unique gift to heal others even from the brink of death, but with this gift comes the consequence of destruction."

Vincent steps forward and reads over the next few as the blonde beside him attempts to process the information that had just hit them. "The Fate of the earth is connected to everything that is nature and balance. Shapeshifting, manipulating weather, and resurrection from the Other Side are the gifts this one has." The witch sighs and stares at the words again in shock, "how is this even possible?"

"Wait read these two," Caroline states pointing to the last two descriptions on the paper. "The Fate of sight is a curse and a gift. The ability to touch someone and see their death - however many times that may be - in an instant will be her torment, but it will also prepare her companions for battles ahead. She can also show her fellow Fates memories and details from their past versions…" her voice trails off for a minute before she moves onto the next and final phrase. "The huntress Fate possesses strength like none other and the ability to pick up any weapon known to man and wield it with expertise. Her gift to probe the minds of others for their hearts intentions and desires allows for the Fates to choose wisely who they ally with, and the smoke that burns the unworthy."

"Is this saying what I think it's saying?"

"Yeah that's me - the huntress." Caroline states in a small voice wondering why her life had come to this point. "I think I know who the Fate of sight is."

"Who?" Vincent questions as his dark eyes pierce into her bright orbs.

"Hope Mikaelson."

 **Ok this chapter took longer to write than I had hoped, and it's sort of a filler chapter but on the plus side it's packed with information and scenes that do progress the character dialogue and development! And on the up side you're finally getting a good view at the bigger picture of this plot. How do you all feel about Hope and Caroline** **being these Fates and who do you think are the other reincarnates? Also I know Freya's death was really sad and trust me that was the hardest scene to write because I wanted to do her justice, but don't worry she will be back at some point (whether in flashbacks or not is up in the air since I'm not going to give away my ideas).**

 **I think that's all the news I really have so the usual blurb of I don't own TVD/TO is inserted here along with my request to share, comment, favorite and follow. Also next chapter will probably include some KLAROLINE (finally right) but nothing major I want these two to have a good slow burn and really dig into who they are now after being apart for so long. That and Caroline is a strong independent woman and I don't want her to lose that over the romance of falling for Klaus.**

 **Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you all next time for chapter 14**

 **Always and Forever Loves :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Fate**

 **Chapter Fourteen - Written in the Stars**

Caroline Forbes never thought she'd be running towards the Mikaelsons again and again in her life, but now as she moves across the French Quarter with Vincent she knows her life will forever be tied to theirs. The heavy leather book in her hands tells her that for certain, and the theory of who Hope really was. As the pair burst through the doors of the compound, the usual group is standing nearby watching as the blonde and her witch companion dart upstairs to Hope's room.

"Caroline...Vincent? What are you two doing here and together? I thought you guys didn't know each other," Hope questions as she looks up from the book on her bed. She quickly wipes away the watery eyes that she'd been trying to hide from everyone today.

The blonde vampire sighs noticing her friends grief and makes a mental note to take her somewhere joyful soon. "We think you're part of this whole Kyros thing just as much as I am Hope." She takes the book and slowly walks towards the young Mikaelson while Vincent stands back watching the two women interact. "There's a prophecy that we found, and it talks about Kyros and his students. How they were going to be killed and enacted a plan to save the world from their Teacher while protecting the supernaturals to come themselves in death."

"Yes you told me the story that Kyros shared while you were his prisoner. What does this have to do with me?" The frustration is clear on Hope's face as she tries to keep up with where they're going, but the foggy mind from her overwhelming emotions is evident. Caroline didn't need to probe her mind to know she wasn't focused.

Caroline takes a slow, soothing breath, using her energy to share that calm and clarity with Hope and the wolf visibly relaxes. "The legend is true, we found it in a book of prophecies that have been long forgotten. There were 5 students and said to be 5 reincarnates someday. They would only appear when the Teacher is said to have gained the power to escape his prison, and now he's out." She pauses briefly seeing her young friend capture the information and process it, "and we know I was taken because I'm the doppelganger of his wife. Which makes me a reincarnate since she was one of his students. Kyros took you and Freya because he wanted something. Unfortunately Freya is dead, but I think it's because he wanted it to be that way - Kyros wanted you to trigger your curse. I think it's because you're a reincarnate too Hope. Specifically the one that has the gift of sight."

"Did you say sight?" Her voice shakes as she remembers the last moments spent with her aunt. The visions she'd seen of Freya's death soon approaching by her own hands, and the flash of when her aunt had taken a poison hundreds of years ago. "I think you're right…"

Vincent takes this time to approach the two and chime in, "what did you see Hope?"

"It's only happened that one time that I can remember, and I can't make it work. When Freya and I were trapped, I touched her...and I saw her die." Tears fill her eyes knowing that she could have stopped this if she'd just heeded the vision as a warning. "I can't do this right now," the young Mikaelson climbs off the bed and darts out the room before anyone can stop her.

"Let her go," Vincent states as his hand takes hold of Caroline's arm.

"What?! Are you crazy, there's a psycho witch out there trying to take us all for who knows what reason. I can't just let her run off." The blonde yanks her arm free and flashes out of the room in search of Hope.

Hope had ran as far and as fast as she could. The blood pulsing through her vessels, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and the tears pooling in her eyes begging to be set free. She finds an alley wall nearby to collapse against and allowing the sobs to wrack her body. Safely away from the compound and all the sympathetic hands and hugs.

"Hope?" She wipes her tears and straightens her back at the sound of the voice.

"Go away," the young witch attempts to keep the sound of her sniffles contained as she makes sure to not face him.

The footsteps approach despite her protests though, "please stop turning away from me." His hand touches her shoulder and slowly turns her to face him. Isaac's caramel eyes stare at Hope's trembling lip and tear streaked face. She quickly moves to hide her face from him, "hey hey don't do that. I'm here, what's wrong." He moves his hands to hold her face gently on her cheeks "You can talk to me."

Hope's voice trembles as her body shakes against her will with another sob. "I could've saved her. It's not your fault, it's mine. You were just trying to not get anyone hurt. I saw her die and I just let it happen. I could've saved her Isaac!" Her cries grow louder and more hysteric with each word as she weakly beats her fist against his chest and his pulls her to his chest.

"Shhh, it's okay Hope. She forgives you I know she does. Freya knew what she was doing when she sacrificed herself for you." Isaac simply stands there in the alley where he'd found Hope. Holding her tight in his embrace and tracing patterns with his hands on her back trying to sooth her cries.

The auburn haired woman didn't understand how he had the effect he did on her. It was as if his very presence could infuriate her and in her time of need Isaac was the exact person she wanted and needed. It was as if Fate or destiny or whatever was pulling them together, and she didn't know if she wanted to fight it anymore. So she stood there letting the handsome werewolf hold her and comfort her sobs 'til they were silent.

Ingrid enters the compound laughing loudly at something Kol had just told her. The pure joy shared between the two like nothing either had experienced in life...or at least in a very long time. Whilst taking in the scene of emptiness around her, she spots the door to one of the small study rooms opened. "I'll talk to you later Kol, thank you for today." The redhead shakes her arm free from the original's and moves towards the door with a small light coming from within.

There inside, Caroline sits on one of the leather chairs with a glass of one of the many types of alcohols home to this place in her hand. "You do realize you can't sneak up on me right? I have hearing so delicate I have to pretend I don't know exactly what's going on upstairs in Hayley and Elijah's room." The vampire rolls her eyes and chuckles when Ingrid grimaces at her words. She takes another sip of her drink before setting it down to face her somewhat friend. "So what are you doing in here anyways? I thought you'd be with Kol right now doing more magic research and bonding."

"We're just friends," she tries to explain as Caroline simply holds her hand up to stop Ingrid.

"That's what I said about every guy I liked when I was young. Of course everyone knows that's a lie, and besides I see the way you look at him. He makes you happy, and you make me not as psychotic." She smiles slightly examining the young girl before her. Recently the blonde had taken extra strides to not use her powers on her friends for the sake of their privacy and her own sanity, but right now she felt there was a good reason to go snooping in Ingrid's subconscious.

For a few short moments the pair sit there in a trance-like state. Allowing the quiet to envelope and embrace them, and it was peaceful for a brief time. "I know what you're looking for." Ingrid finally voices in a small tone.

Caroline raises her brows slightly as she pulls herself from Ingrid's mind. "What would that be exactly?" She sets her glass down on the side table to focus her gaze more intently on the woman across from her.

"You've been trying to figure out who the rest of the five are. Kyros told you of who you are in as little detail as possible, and you've come to the conclusion that Hope is one as well. So you were searching my mind to see if I had a part to play in this story as well." The words the pour from her lips don't sound like her own, but as if the wisdom of another age came from her in that moment. The pair sit back staring at each other processing the things just spoken that neither of them could entirely believe.

The blonde vampire nods her head slowly and sits back re-thinking the list she'd seen earlier of the five Fates. "Yep I'm pretty sure you are involved. Ever heard of the Fate of Knowledge?"

Ingrid sits back into the leather couch and ponders over the strange occurances of the past month that she's seen and experienced. "I knew nothing of the supernatural world before meeting you Caroline, and somehow now I understand things that you've never mentioned or explained to me."

"Like what things exactly?" She questions cocking her head to the side as her inner leader takes over in search of information and facts. Just like Bonnie had told her earlier, she did have a moment of peace for now, but Kyros would come back sooner or later and she needed to be prepared.

"That night when Kyros attacked us all. He was after you, and somehow the Fates brought us together in that moment because I would've been unprotected I guess without you. Anyways when the first bombs went off I don't remember entirely what happened, but I blacked out for a while and then woke up coughing under a bookcase or something. That's when you found me, but I think I died when the first bombs went off...and then I came back."

"So what you're saying is that these reincarnates are all immortal...and it doesn't matter if they're vampires or humans?" Caroline sits back wondering if that's why she got stronger because she was already a vampire before all of this.

Ingrid shakes her head briefly, "yes we are immortal but we are not human. Because you are a Fate now, you are no longer just a vampire - only in part you are. When we were 'activated' for lack of a better word, we became a hybrid of sorts. Not like Klaus or Hayley because we don't have the werewolf gene, but my point is that we're no longer just human or vampire. The only reason we're immortal is to defeat Kyros and carry on the legacy of the Fates here on this plane where we can truly protect the supernatural world."

The vampire sits back staring at the load of information she'd received, "okay. Whoa, I think my head is going to split open or something. When the book said the Fate of knowledge they really meant you knew stuff. Please don't tell me anything more that's groundbreaking right now."

"Well I kind of have to since this bit of information is kinda pertinent to our little inner circle." Ingrid shrugs her shoulders and grimaces as Caroline rubs her temples, "wolves can take mates as you probably knew already. What you didn't know is that sometimes the Fates determine the mates of certain wolves, specifically alpha wolves, they call them 'true mates,' since it's almost like pre-destined for these two people to be together."

"So where are you going with this?"

"I'm trying to say that Hope and Isaac are true mates, they just don't know it yet. And Klaus...well you're his. This is just where it gets complicated because you're a doppelganger and technically your shadow self was tied to Kyros. So taking a mate isn't as easy as it is for others because your blood, your heart, everything about you is linked to Kyros in some way."

Caroline's eyes widen as she attempts to process the assault of more information once again, "wait that's really cute about Isaac and Hope but ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?" The blonde stands to her feet in a panicked uproar, "ugh seriously?! I mean I've spent decades trying to avoid anything emotionally connecting me to this man that terrified me when I was younger." She drags her hands down her face in frustration and then turns to face the redhead who remained sitting as the blonde stood and paced around frantically. "So what does this whole thing mean between me and Kyros with Klaus now in the picture of it all?"

She sighs trying to be a calm in the room to Caroline's storm, "it merely means that before the 'true mate' bond between you two can really be strong like it's supposed to be, we have to sever the link between you and Kyros. Which means we have to find a way to kill him and lock him away for good...and the unfortunate thing is that I actually don't know how to do this."

"Great, well that's just fantastic."

Hayley stands in the kitchen of the compound attempting to sneak around in just Elijah's shirt long enough to grab a few blood bags, but the conversation in the room across the courtyard brings her mission to a halt. The hybrid stands curiously by listening to Ingrid and Caroline talk about Fates, hybrids, Hope, and true mates. She doesn't know what shocks her more, the fact that Hope - her own daughter - and Isaac are true mates, or the part about Caroline and Klaus being destined for each other.

Before she can be noticed she flashes back upstairs to her room where Elijah is waiting and watching her expression curiously, "what is it?"

"You won't believe what I just found out about your brother and Caroline," she smirks at the thought of Klaus finally having someone to put him in his place that he can't dagger or kill or threaten; and it's all because he loves her too much.

Elijah chuckles as he takes one of the blood bags she offers him, "what did the two finally confess their undying love for each other? Better yet did miss Forbes learn that she can't hide or bury her feelings any longer?" The original earns a swat to the arm at his joking words which were a new addition to his behavior in their years of living in peace.

"No they didn't talk at all, but what Caroline just learned will inevitably push her towards Klaus in the long run. Rest assured it won't be long before the two are walking around like love sick puppies, and that is all I'm willing to say for now because we have some unfinished business to attend to," Hayley states as she bites her lip and moves in to kiss Elijah again.

The original forgets his blood bag, setting it on the bedside table. Their focus became centered on other things, like how long they could stay in bed today. The pair knew they were meant for each other because even after all this time together they could still never get enough of each other.

Brett sits in his cell that he'd been moved to a few days after his capture. They'd changed location from where he first was, and the last thing he remembered of that place was Freya and her niece Hope being in the cell next to him. They were poisoned and he had hoped somehow the two escaped, but he knew deep down something terrible happened that night. He'd heard the screams from Hope as the night carried on like nothing happened, and he wanted to join her partly.

Over the last few weeks the routine had been similar. He'd wake up early in the morning with aches in his body from the stone floor he slept on, and would attempt to distract his mind in some way. Then Kyros would come in and interrogate him briefly, but it would never go past the man standing outside of his cell and taunting him whilst giving nuggets of information.

All he knew was that he was a Fate, there were 4 others like him with different abilities and that he was a danger to the world because of his gift...at least that's what he was told. Brett didn't even know what his gift was or how to use it so he had no clue whether that was true or not. Then again the guy had his lackies snap Brett's neck to capture him so that might be his answer right there.

Somehow in the time locked away, the young man had the time to process the fact that he had died and come back. He didn't feel any different, but now in the presence of Kyros he could tell there was something buried within that was stirring and waiting to burst forth.

So now he sits and he waits in the silence wondering what will be next. Kyros visiting him again and again, or discovering what's deep within could help him escape. Perhaps both, or maybe just maybe, he'll find Freya again.

The dinner table was set and it would be full for the first time in a long while tonight. Hope had finally decided to come down to eat a meal with everyone in the compound, including Isaac, who had stuck close to the young Mikaelson ever since their encounter in the alley earlier in the day. In light of recent events the group had grown closer - well except Caroline and Klaus who she'd been avoiding like the plague ever since her return.

So now all of them sit around a dinner table with food served on nice plates and wine in front of each of them (minus Hope of course). Every makes conversation with each other attempting to keep the mood light...that is until the dreaded topic arises of their current dilemma.

"I want to thank you all for searching for me and not giving up to find me," Caroline states as she sets her glass back down on the table slowly and carefully. The woman she used to be blending perfectly with the one she'd become in recent decades as she speaks. "I wish different circumstances had kept me here in New Orleans, but tragedy happens. Right now I want you all to enjoy this peace again, and take the time to truly mourn Freya as you lost a close family member and I merely lost a friend I'd just met. That being said, Kyros is still out there and I'm certain he's plotting something. I need to stop it and him, but I can't put anyone else in danger. So I'm leaving."

"Love don't be ridiculous," Klaus chimes in first with a chorus of agreements from the rest of the table. "You are not in this alone; and I don't know how many times I will have to make that clear to you. As long as you're here that man will not step foot near you."

Caroline shakes her head not daring to look the man in the eye after all she'd learned about them today. "That's just it. You're so focused on protecting me when you never stopped to realize I don't need protecting anymore Klaus, and I don't want it. Kyros needs to find me, to know exactly where I am and where I'm going. I'm not going to let him stay here and hurt any of you - and to do that I need to be gone. He will follow me I'm sure of it...with his obsession and all."

"Miss Forbes, if I may ask, are your intentions to draw him out of New Orleans using yourself as bait? If so how are you so certain that you won't be captured again just like before," Elijah questions this time knowing that if the young woman left now there would be no further development between Caroline and Niklaus. "Stay here and we can help create a plan that works in a similar way, but doesn't put you out there alone and at risk."

"I'm sorry Elijah but this is my decision and it's been made. I need to return home to take care of some things. Ingrid and I left in a hurry and there was so much chaos in that. I have to go back and rebuild, help my people cope."

Klaus stands to his feet pointing at the blonde with fury in his eyes as the rest of the room stills to watch their exchange, "I will compel you to stay in this very home if I have to Caroline. Do not make me use those measures, but do not underestimate my ability to do so if it keeps you safe."

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, "how heroic of you Klaus. Why don't you go try that on anyone else that can actually be compelled. You can't trap people when they don't listen to you. I'm not another one of your siblings that you've daggered over the centuries, and I'm not a random vampire you can compel or kill off. So either you let me leave or I will make you get out of my way." Her last words are growled out as the urge to leave this room, this place, and this city increase by the second. "I can't do this right now…"

Caroline stands from the table and quickly darts towards the doors, "fine leave then! Just remember that we tried to protect you when Kyros finds you again. See if I care," Klaus stomps off to one of the many rooms in the compound searching for art to burn or alcohol to drink...maybe both.

Now that the pair had left the room, the tension seemed to have left with them. Ingrid and Isaac merely stare trying to evaluate the situation and what would happen next. Elijah sits in his chair drinking his wine while Hayley rubs her temples. The youngest Mikaelson sits back and chuckles causing everyone's eyes to turn to her.

She shrugs her shoulders laughing once more, "I'm sorry but it's just too funny watching them argue. We all know they're practically in love with each other...they're just both too stubborn to admit it."

"That my darling daughter I can agree one hundred percent with," Hayley states as she picks up her own glass and takes a large gulp. "All we can do is wait and see what happens. There's no meddling when it comes to Klaus and Caroline."

"She'll be back, trust me."

 **I AM SOOOO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET BACK! I'm back though! I've had severe writers block lately especially since my focus has been more with my college classes than writing, but I'll have a break soon to get back to writing. I think I finally planned out some details for a sequel and it's just a matter of getting from point A to B in this story to get you guys there. I really think you'll love what I have coming for this story and the next, and I'm trying my hardest to make the characters not seem OOC but at the same time show how they've grown and developed over the years before my story begins.**

 **P.S. I wrote this whole chapter in the span of about 24 hours so if there are a good bit of mistakes it's because I legit just finished typing it a few minutes before I published it. I'll probably go back through the whole story after it's finished to fix any major editing mistakes though.**

 **Anyways please follow/favorite and review! I will be back soon with chapter 15 I promise, and things will definitely start heating up with Kyros as well as KLAROLINE!**

 **Always and Forever my friends :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Fate**

 **Chapter Fifteen - Home is Where the Heart is**

For years now Caroline's home hasn't been Mystic Falls. Some could say that it stopped being a home after Liz Forbes passed away, but yet she tried her hardest to stick around in a place just for her friends. Now she sits on a flight taking her back to the place called home, and nothing about it feels right. Despite her insides protesting that she return to New Orleans immediately, she ignores it and proceeds to grab her bags and head towards the gate that will take her into Tel Aviv.

Standing outside in the warm air she realizes just how much she's missed this place the last month and a half. For a few minutes the blonde stands outside the airport just breathing in the familiar scents that she had grown accustomed to over the last decade living here.

A taxi takes her towards the part of the city that she'd spent most of her time in, but Caroline wasn't sure who to go to upon her return. Or if she should even make her presence known. So instead she checks into a local hotel with a private room to herself and plans to stay hidden and get the lay of the land again. As she vamps through the shadows under the morning sun she takes notice of the old estate still in ruins, but it was slowly being rebuilt by someone it appeared.

Part of the her wonders who took over as leader when Caroline disappeared, and that's also the side that thinks this was the perfect opportunity for someone to claim that she wasn't the right leader. Maybe she wasn't, but maybe this was just like most places had been over the years...a temporary resting place.

In New Orleans, Klaus paces the floors of the compound as the rest of the group watches him in fascination. "Does anyone want to place bets as to when he's going to give in and go after her?" Kol states as he takes a sip of his blood bag and ignores the light slap on his arm he earns from Ingrid. "It's a reasonable bet love, you see how mad he is going and she's only been gone for a few hours."

The hybrid stops his movements to turn and growl at his younger brother before continuing his pattern of pacing and grumbling incoherent words. "See Kol, don't poke the bear...or wolf." Ingrid crosses her arms after pointing at Klaus and then usher a protesting Kol away from the scene before he could cause any further damage.

"Dad?" Hope questions as she slowly attempts to approach him, wishing that he would follow his heart for once in his millenia long existence. Instead of getting the response she wants her father continues to ignore most attempts at having a conversation.

Finally after what seems an eternity of silence, Hayley stomps into the room and interrupts Klaus' pacing. "You need to stop this, it's doing nothing first of all." He growls at the wolf as his eyes turn their golden shade for a brief moment. Pushing Hayley out of the way, Klaus continues to do what he's done since Caroline left; pace and plot and worry. "Second of all," the she-wolf states as she puts herself in his way once more. "You need to just go after Caroline for God's sake Klaus you're in love with her and she has some sort of feelings for you. Just work it out already!"

The hybrid stops to stare at his baby momma for a few moments, "when did you become so supportive of my romantic interests? Besides I thought you and Caroline never saw eye to eye."

"We didn't, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve a shot at happiness...even if it is with Caroline Forbes. The woman you fall for could've been worse though, and this brings me to my third and final point." Hayley reaches into her back pocket and pulls out two slips of paper that she places in Klaus' hand. "Here, take these. This should get you to where Caroline is and bring you both back here. Go get the girl Klaus."

A few hours into her stay in Tel Aviv, Caroline Forbes had already noticed strange changes to the atmosphere of the city she loved. The once crowded supernatural pit stops had become vacant or were destroyed completely. More bombings is what the public is said to believe. The truth was war had breached the city walls and the different species were at odds once again - a place they hadn't been for at least 300 years.

She wanders the alleyways in the shadows observing the vampires once in her inner circle, the witches she had trusted with her life before, and the wolves that were packing their belongings and fleeing the very city their packs had called home for centuries. Something was definitely different here and the blonde couldn't quite place her finger on what the exact culprit of this change was. Instead of confronting anyone though she remains hidden, probably best that way. She'd overheard a few witches talking earlier about how they all believed Caroline was taken or killed in the bombing of the estate over a month ago...if only they knew the truth.

Eventually she makes her way to a shop in the middle of the crowded marketplace. Finding a good scarf to cover her head with she can easily blend into the crowds and observe her home from a better vantage point. Of course that peace was easily disrupted when she turns around to spot five men focused solely on her in the crowd. Putting the safety of the citizens first, Caroline shoves her way through the crowd and heads towards an abandoned alleyway nearby.

"Alright come on! I know you're following me," she states whilst gently pulling her headscarf off to rest on her shoulders neatly.

The whooshing sound can be heard in her ear as the five men appear instantly in the alley. "So I'm assuming you're with whoever is in charge of my city now?"

Silence is what greets her instead of a cocky response she'd expected. "Oh, not big talkers huh? Let me see if I can fix that." The blonde focuses herself and let's the frustration she bundles up within pour out as black smoke from her hands. It pools on the ground and slithers like a snake towards the vampires who merely stand staring her down. "What the hell…" confusion floods Caroline as the smoke reached the men and they don't seem to be affected one bit.

Before she can prepare for combat, her body meets the wall behind her as she flies through the air and leaves a dent in the concrete she hits. Standing to her feet slowly she spits out blood and wipes her mouth and faces the five again. "Guess I actually have to fight this time."

The alleyway is filled with growls, grunts, and flashes as the six vampires battle between each other and slowly the 6 become four as Caroline rips out the hearts of two vampires simultaneously. The remaining three step back in shock over the greying bodies of their friends.

Caroline can feel their anger through her intuition as they charge at her all at once. That's how she finds herself pinned to the wall by two of the vampires as the third digs his hand in her chest. He wraps his fingers tightly around her heart and squeezes causing the blonde vampire to cry out gasping. She struggles against the two that hold her down whilst trying not to get her heart ripped out in the process.

Suddenly the guy to her right disappears and his body lands a few feet away with his head missing. The remaining vampires pause to look around in fear leaving Caroline a window to free herself. She pulls the hand out from her chest and kills him while the last one standing wraps his arms around her from behind in attempt to snap Caroline's neck. His movements half as a crunching sound is heart and his heart lands a foot away from them.

"Seems you did need rescuing love," and there he stands in his blood coated glory. The accent, the dimples, the hero attitude he always had around her.

'That's where the butterflies went' Caroline thinks to herself as she stares at Klaus Mikaelson. "How - how did you even know where to find me? I never told you where I was going let alone that I've ever been here before." She crosses her arms in an attempt to be abrasive towards him. It was her armor, her shield, and her only protection against falling for the one man who could completely destroy her if she let him in.

"It wasn't hard to find you once Hope told me where you had been living for the past decade. Quite a lovely place might I add," he smirks whilst gesturing to the five bodies scattered around them. "Though I do think they could re-decorate a little."

"I had it handled Klaus. No need to act all 'knight in shining armor.'" She straightens her shirt and attempts to hide the giant blood stained hole with her scarf.

When she leaves the alley, Klaus follows her closely observing how she weaves through the city with ease. He watched in awe as she behaved the way he'd always known she could, like a queen amongst men. "So where are we going love? To your place I hope so we can pack your things."

"Oh no no no, we are so not doing this right now." She turns on her heels to point a finger in his chest while glaring at him. Their eyes meet and it's electric in the air for a mere moment before the connection breaks. "I am going to my hotel to change and then I'm getting back to work on figuring out what's happened to my city."

He chucked, "I've always thought you'd end up leading a city of supernaturals somewhere sweetheart. Although I didn't expect it to be here of all places," he laughs once more when she turns to glare at him over her shoulder.

Klaus raises his hands in mock surrender earning a scoff from Caroline, "this place is my home. These people have fought by my side for their freedom from a tyrant of a leader. And then we spend a decade rebuilding and living in peace...until Kyros came and ruined that of course."

Silence envelopes the space as they enter Caroline's hotel and retreat to her room undetected. Surprisingly, she allows Klaus inside her room and so now they stand there awkwardly. One trying to fill the silence the other trying to keep it.

"You never told me how that happened. You never told me a lot of things actually, like how you discovered you were immortal similarly to my siblings and I."

"The first question is simple. Kyros warned me for years that he was coming back and I never knew who he was, let alone believed him. By the time I did it was too late, my best friend was murdered in front of me. The home I had build with my blood, sweat, and tears crumbled as bombs were set off throughout it. Many people died that day...including me." Caroline pauses looking up to see the man staring at her with such compassion she could burst from the seams of her being.

"I'm sorry...Caroline."

"What's done is done now. Anyways your second question is a much longer story that's a lot more complicated."

Klaus smiles and plops down onto the neatly made bed, "we've got time love. You might as well tell me about your life while we're here together." He smirks when she scoffs and rolls her eyes to his remarks.

"Fine, but if I tell you the story there will be no interrupting."

An hour later the two immortals were walking the streets of Tel Aviv chatting about their last few decades apart. They remained unnoticed for the most part, save for a few that recognized their fallen queen had returned. During those moments when Caroline had stopped to speak to those that stopped her, Klaus would stand back in admiration. He got to witness her in her true element where she had gotten so comfortable in the past several years. This was who Caroline Forbes had become in their time apart.

So lost in his thoughts, the hybrid doesn't notice that Caroline's wandered off ahead in the street and she's now calling for him to catch up with her. "I haven't been here in many many years," Klaus states as his eyes peer around at the decorative sights in the marketplace area. "It never has lost its charm though, but to many it's just a tourist stop or not even recognized."

"Yeah, the only reason I found this place was because of a flight that got delayed one day when I was heading to Tokyo." She pauses as she thinks of the irony of her statement, and in the moment the both of them mentally recall Klaus' words. 'I'll take you. Rome, Paris, Tokyo.' An almost awkward silence fills them for a few moments as they reminisce on the easier days.

After several minutes of quietly walking the streets she finally speaks up again. "I got your letters," she nervously bites her bottom lip wondering what his reaction would be. "I mean I never got the nerve to actually open them over the years so they were just put in a box. I was just so focused on forgetting my old life and starting over…"

"I never thought you'd actually get them. I had hoped...but I just kept sending them to that last known address every year on the off chance that you'd find them someday." Klaus' voice is filled with wonder as he realizes that even if she hadn't read the letter she'd kept them all these years.

Caroline chuckles softly to herself shaking her head slightly causing her loose blonde hair to move in rhythm with her. The hybrid raises a brow at her questioning what she's laughing at, "it's just funny that the one day out of almost twenty years of letters that I decide to open one my home ends up bombed. For just a few minutes I blamed the irony of it all on you," the pair laugh lightly at the thought of his letters causing all of this.

"I'm sorry all of this has happened to you love."

"Don't be Klaus, it's not your fault...it's no one's fault really. Not even Katherine's for turning me way back when. Sooner or later I would've been brought into the supernatural world because of who I am," she pauses and laughs a little more loudly this time. "A freaking doppelgänger, like seriously the universe couldn't pick anything more interesting and different? Damon once said if he heard the word doppelgänger one more time he'd have to actually learn how to spell it."

Klaus walks beside her admiring the way she remembers and recalls her past with such nostalgia, but not in a sorrowful way. He clasps his hands behind his back as he moves through the crowds and continues to let her share little tidbits of her life with him.

"Why did you never reach out to your friends," he finally questions her later in the day when they're sitting down at a restaurant for a late lunch.

She cocks her head to the side for a moment as she thinks over her answer, "honestly I don't really know. Part of it must be because when my mom died Mystic Falls became nothing but a holding cell that I was ready to leave...but I couldn't because everyone I cared for wanted to stay. When Elena was cursed, everyone just sort of scattered from there and I knew it was my time to leave too."

"That doesn't answer my question though love." His smile is lopsided as he examines her expression for a minute and then she brushes off the question completely…'some other time then,' he thinks to himself.

"So what's it been like living under the same roof as Hayley and Elijah? That must be a little awkward considering she's Hope's mom and Elijah is well Elijah."

"I will admit at first it was a little strange, but everyone could tell the two shared a deep connection that couldn't be denied. They went through some rough times in the beginning, and part of that is due to my own stubbornness."

"You stubborn? Never!" Caroline bursts into a fit of giggles when Klaus scowls at her for her comment, but not even the big bad hybrid could contain his laughter when he was around her.

Hours later after touring the city and sharing about their lives in recent times, Klaus and Caroline find themselves sitting alone on one of the many rooftops in the city. They enjoy a nice dinner watching the sun as it begins to set in the sky and continue their chatting over random things that seemed to bring joy to their short time in the city.

"So Hope is there looking at Hayley and Elijah wondering what she just walked in on," Klaus finishes his statement about a story from when Hope was younger.

"No! That poor girl must be scarred for life now," the blonde laughs taking another sip of her wine that they'd bought earlier. "Thank goodness she didn't see anything worse."

"It could've been a lot worse, and the two lovestruck idiots didn't have the sense to use their hearing. That problem has been resolved though and there is a knocking policy in the house now." The wide smile on Klaus' face can't be missed and Caroline sits there for a minute fascinated by the happiness he clearly felt.

"She brings you joy," the blonde states. It wasn't a question as no one could deny that after hearing him talk about Hope.

He nods his head agreeing to her statement, "yeah it was a little rough at first with my mother and aunt returning and everyone attempting to kill her. Once we got past that of course it had been pretty much smooth sailing. Although I will admit when boys started becoming attractive to her I almost had a heart attack...and I've never even experienced that."

"Yes teenagers will definitely give you many of those." Caroline pauses for a minute thinking over Hope, Bonnie's kids, and even Matt's little one. She wondered if she'd remained human how her life would've played out to this point. Maybe she would have a daughter or a son - maybe two kids by now like Bonnie.

"I know that look," the original chimes in as he sets down his wine glass to get Caroline's attention. "Rebekah has made that same face several times over the years. You were thinking about your life if you had children and a family of your own." The sad smile on his lips can't be missed, but they both choose to ignore it.

She sighs, "yeah sometimes I wish things had been different. If they weren't though I never would have met all the amazing people I know and my life wouldn't be as extravagant as it is. Human me would've hated that 'small town life.'

The two sit in silence for several long minutes basking in the beautiful sunset that was approaching soon. Finally Caroline releases a soft sigh and hangs her head down a little. "I didn't contact my friends because I wanted to erase everything about that life."

Klaus turns his attention to her for a moment wondering what exactly she meant. "Love," he starts to speak but the blonde quickly shuts him up raising her hand to stop him.

"Let me finish first." Caroline sighs again and attempts to shake the weird feeling off of her, 'pull it together Forbes,' she thinks to herself before continuing to speak. "When my mom died, I spent the next forty eight hours trying to distract myself from the inevitable grief that was waiting for me. So instead I flipped the humanity switch off and went on a rampage for a few weeks." Caroline pauses for a moment taking in the hybrids expression as he recalls hearing the story of how his favorite blonde full of light had turning off her humanity.

In all honesty, when Klaus had heard about this years ago part of him wanted to drop everything and head for Mystic Falls to make things right for Caroline. Then he remembered that blasted promise he made to her before their hours spent in the woods. Now as the infamous original hybrid looks into the eyes of a woman he once called 'full of light,' he still sees that light, but it's dimly lit now compared to decades ago when she was still so young.

"Anyways after that whole incident Elena took the cure and then was cursed...which you know about from Stefan I'm sure. So we all sort of went our separate ways. Then Stefan and I broke up a few years after we left Mystic Falls - again I'm sure you've heard that whole story already. When I came here to Tel Aviv I knew something was special about this place, and so I decided to stay. But then I walked into a warzone instead of a peaceful and quiet existence. I knew once I got involved in this war that I'd have to cut ties with people I cared about, and so I visited Matt and Bonnie for the last time, and then my phone calls turned into texts and then that became emails until eventually they heard about me through Tyler or someone to know I was still alive." Caroline pauses once more fidgeting with her fingers as she stares down at her hands. "I told myself for years that I backed away for their safety, for everyone's safety. In reality I left them because I was tired of being me, of being known and in contact with everything that once made me Caroline Forbes the baby vampire...even you had that effect at the time. I was ready to step into this new life here and they only needed to see me as the strong invincible woman...not the young forever 17 year old vampire."

Silence meets her for a few minutes, and she welcomes it briefly knowing that he's actually processing what she said. "So you cut ties, hid pictures, had mail sent to a different address in another country, and put my letters away unopened in a box." Caroline nods in response to his words that made a lot more sense coming from him than they would anyone else. "There were many lifetimes that I no longer wanted to be known as Klaus Mikaelson...many of those were instances when Mikael had hunted us down and forced my family to abandon a place we'd grown to care for."

The two share yet another long moment of silence...it was beginning to become their new thing, and Caroline couldn't tell if she liked the fact that she was so comfortable in silence around Klaus or if she should be telling herself to run. "I know you're supposed to be the bad guy. The big bad Klaus Mikaelson, and everyone that knows you or knows of you should tremble in fear at the sound of your name, but I'm not afraid anymore Klaus. Yes you've hurt so many people I cared about when I was younger, but when I did finally leave and cut those ties I realized that those lines we once drew between good and evil - us and you - became so blurry. So much so that I can't tell the difference anymore between you being a bad guy and the right guy." She nervously runs her fingers through her hair, "what I'm trying to say is Klaus you're not the villain of my story."

In an instant before either of them could process or think through their next move, their lips meet in a moment of passion. Fire ignites between them as every fiber of their bodies tingle at the connection. Caroline finally giving into what she longs for and wants without caring for others opinions, and Klaus savouring what could be his only kiss for a while with the blonde vampire he'd completely fallen for. His hands reach up to cut her cheeks as one entangles in her hair attempting to pull her as close as possible. Their lips continue to meet over and over and their tongues battle for dominance that both of them crave to have. When they break apart both of them are breathless. Klaus' eyes shine as they gaze at Caroline's slightly swollen and pink lips and her mused hair.

They stare for a few seconds taking in the last few minutes of their rooftop experience as the sun gives the last of its light to the city that day. Klaus stares in astonishment at the woman he never believed would care for him in return, let alone return physical affection in that way. "Caroline I want to say that no matter my behavior over the years I have always wanted to do what I could to put you first...in my own twisted and skewed ways that is." He pauses staring once more at every detail of her face, a beauty he couldn't compare to anyone he'd ever experienced in his millenia of life. "I wrote you letters every year because I knew if I intruded on your life any further that it would be too soon and too much. Somewhere deep down I knew you'd come back into my life, but I had to let you fly first."

"I'm done flying Klaus," the words leave her lips before she can process them and immediately she knows that's what she truly means. "Let's go home."

 **Here is chapter 15! Right in time for thanksgiving weekend too. As I promised Klaroline is finally here! This chapter needed to be** **solely focused on Klaus and Caroline so we could accomplish all of that dialogue and plot building, but just because things ended all mushy here doesn't mean smooth sailing. They've still got to defeat a major evil called Kyros and find out more about this whole Fate reincarnates thing, but from here on out there will be more building of the Klaroline romance because the goal is to get them to HEA at some point...and I won't say if that will be in this story or the sequel (which is in the works btw).**

 **anyways thank you all so much for reading this story so far, for favoriting/following and leaving sweet reviews. I am thankful for an awesome fandom this holiday season!**

 **Please continue to follow/favorite and review...hopefully I will be back with another chapter over the next week or so.**

 **Always and forever :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Fate**

 **Chapter Sixteen - When the Devil Comes A Callin'**

The flight back to New Orleans was surprisingly uneventful and quiet for Klaus and Caroline. As the pair sat in their seats sipping champagne and telling more stories of their lives over the last few years. It was as if their time talking in Tel Aviv just hours ago wasn't nearly enough catching up. The two step off the private Mikaelson plane in Louisiana walking hand in hand through the airport. The atmosphere seemed to shift as they embraced the deep connection the hybrid and Fate shared for each other.

As Klaus drives the car through the French Quarter he stops the car and lets the blonde next to him climb out. She stares around for a few moments at the crowded streets preparing for the first holiday of the fall season. "Well I missed mardi gras so I guess I will have to see halloween and the other holidays then." Her words are muttered more for her own amusement, but Klaus can't help to chuckle a little too.

"We typically avoid halloween here just so you know. Too many idiots roaming the streets attempting to find proof that the supernatural exists. The witches take priority on that...event." He shrugs his shoulders pondering over the first few years of Hope's life when they actually did the whole halloween tradition thing. "I will admit Hope was an adorable butterfly one year."

She purses her lips and nods trying to picture a young Hope with sparkling wings strapped to her back, "noted. At least tell me you guys do Christmas."

"Of course, but please help me avoid Rebekah's wish burning ceremony this year. I'm sure she will attempt to do something related to my endangered love life."

They laugh slightly as their footsteps slowly begin to move through the busy streets of the French Quarter. "You say that as if it's not your fault." The joke is clear in her tone that she means no harm in her words.

"Well the first of my vampire years was already crazy, and Elijah technically killed the very first lover. Hayley was a doomed one night stand so there was nothing there, and Camille has always been a mere friend." He stops and turns to face her in the street as she feels his hand on her arm pulling her back to him. "You on the other hand love," his words are barely a whisper as Klaus brings his hands up to cup her cheeks tenderly, "are too smart to be corrupted by me."

"I'm actually too smart to be seduced by you," she whispers back and pulls away giggling lightly at the memory. "Now let's go I'm sure you siblings want to know where we are. I guarantee they're placing bets on if we're preoccupied at the moment."

"Well then let's give them something to actually place bets on." Klaus pulls her in for a tender and short kiss and the fire ignites in Caroline once more. She deepens the kiss and thinks to herself that she could never get tired of this with him.

Their tender moment in the street is broken when a force pushes them back into an alleyway away from prying eyes. Once again the pair find themselves surrounded by men and women in black. A few witches amongst them chanting attempting to keep Klaus down whilst the vampires of the group charge at Caroline. The blonde panics for a moment remembering that her powers didn't work on the last group of attackers. "I was wondering when you would show up again. You guys must really have a death wish if you're willing to just walk into a death trap for Kyros."

"We believe in his cause and for that we will die, but not today." One of the men voices before charging at Caroline with a stake in hand. Klaus is pinned against a wall now by the witches watching as Caroline takes out the first vampire with ease and skill that only his family seemed to possess. She lifts the stake that belonged to that vampire and flashes behind one of the witches. Quickly jabbing it into the spine of the woman she feels warm blood splatter her and the woman falls dead.

The power holding Klaus down weakens greatly at the loss of one of the witches, but he's still incapacitated. A vampire flashes up behind Caroline attempting to snap her neck, but she makes quick work of removing his hands from her body and rips off his daylight ring. The man falls to the ground in a pile of flames and the next vampire comes darting towards her. This one must've been older because he was stronger than the others, he matched her hits and managed to pick her up by her throat crushing it under his iron tight grip.

Out of the corner of Caroline's eye she spots something shining on the man's waist. Without thinking what it could be she picks it off him on instinct. Pulling an old style blade free she uses it to cut off the vampire's hand that was wrapped around her throat. In a flash she sliced his head off and warm liquid sprays onto Caroline's upper body and face as well as the brick walls nearby. Now with the weapon in hand she makes quick use of taking out the last two witches, releasing Klaus and the pair kill the last remaining vampires in a dance of blood and battle.

As the pair stand in the alley around the dozen dead bodies, Klaus watches in astonishment as Caroline's eyes flash from a glowing green back to their normal shade. In an instant the hybrid questions if it was a figment of his imagination, but decides to push that theory aside for now. "I think we should get rid of these bodies before someone sees them."

"Couldn't agree more love, but we have specialists for that." He states before noticing her very confused look, "there are vampires and others in the city that specialize in cleaning up situations like these. It's partly so we don't have to do it, but mainly because they are thorough and enjoy doing it."

"Huh, never thought someone would actually like cleaning up after you guys." She shrugs her shoulders and takes his hand as the pair flash off once more to the compound. As they enter the doorway to the courtyard hand in hand she states, "good thing we can flash off like that or people would be giving us weird looks."

The sound of clapping from the balcony pulls the pair from their conversation as Kol stands upstairs with a smirk on his lips. Elijah stands nearby with the rest of the Mikaelson gang scattered around the area. "Pay up brother," Elijah states looking over to Kol with his hand out.

"Did you place a bet on Caroline and I?" he questions looking up to his two brothers that merely shrugged at his question.

"The bet was simple Nik, if you arrived alone then I win," Kol gives his signature smirk at the couple coated in blood whilst holding hands.

"But I bet that you two would arrive together. Then Kol insisted your arrival would mean Niklaus deflowered miss Forbes." Elijah pulls his arm up to look at the time on his watch to which he scoffed at. "1:10, I win this time brother." Kol pulls out his wallet handing a few bills to Elijah afterwards the elder brother exits. "Welcome back miss Forbes," he manages to call from another room before disappearing altogether.

"First of all did Elijah seriously say 'deflower,' and secondly we did nothing Kol so stop placing bets or I'm going to make a bet with someone on how long it would take for your manhood to grow back after I cut it off." The vampire smiles politely at Kol whose face pales at the serious tone of Caroline's voice. He flashes out of sight before anyone could threaten him further.

Ingrid and Hope are the last two left standing downstairs in the courtyard with them, "welcome back Caroline...even if you were only gone for a day or two." She moves to hug her two friends but pauses realizing she's still covered in blood from their little battle in the French Quarter.

"Dad, Ingrid and I are going to Lafayette to see Vincent. We will be back in time to dinner I promise," Hope quickly moves towards the door placing a peck on her father's cheek and darting from the compound before he could protest otherwise.

Caroline chuckles and shakes her head slightly, "teenagers." Klaus then takes notice of the empty courtyard and steps closer to her. Their noses brush as the two prepare to kiss once again, the intoxicating pull seemed to be appearing as it pleased since their reconnection in Tel Aviv. "I actually need to go shower and re-unpack." Klaus groans pulling away from Caroline like a child, "sorry but this whole coated in blood thing is so not sexy."

"I think it is," he replies pulling her back to him one last time as their chests meet flush against each other. Their breath mingles, noses touching, lips inches apart. "Go shower love, find me when you're done we have work to do." Before stepping back he places a small kiss on her face just by her ear allowing his breath to hit it and her neck.

Caroline's back stiffens and the encounter flusters her just enough to send her almost flashing from the room. A hot shower would be perfect after that...whatever it was. 'Make that a long hot shower,' she thinks to herself as she turns the water on and prepares to clear her head for the next half hour.

Ingrid and Hope stood in one of many mausoleums of Lafayette cemetery attempting to research the Fates and what possible gifts they had. As their eyes glossed over the words of each grimoire and historic collective held in the space the idea that they would find new information became close to impossible. "How the hell are we supposed to use our powers if we don't even know what they really are?" Ingrid exclaims out of frustration as she slams another old book shut and dust flies free from it.

She runs her fingers through her hair and replaces the ancient text, retrieving another in the process. "I mean all we get from these books are the same vague answers to one of the million questions we have." The redhead looks up from her closed book to see Hope in complete concentration staring at her phone. "Well I guess you completely missed what I said. Are you talking to a cute werewolf again?"

"No...I'm researching." The young Mikaelson shrugs off her friends questions and returns to the book. Though her blushing cheeks give away her true answer immediately. "We're just friends...I think. It's complicated and I want it to be more than that, but not when we have some ancient evil breathing down on us and trying to kill everyone we love."

Pushing the book aside, Ingrid places her chin in her hand staring quizzically at Hope. "To me that just sounds like an excuse to burry and hide your feelings for Isaac even more. He cares for you, everyone, even your dad can see that I think. Don't let the fear of the future keep you from the beauty of the present."

"Where the heck did you learn those lines? Were you a poet or something in a former life?"

"No, but I think I just used my powers though…" They pause looking around the room and quickly opening the first book that listed the legend of the Fates and their powers. "That's it the Fate of Knowledge! It was so weird Hope, like this brief warm feeling and for this split second it was like I could see and know everything to tell you about relationships and stuff." Ingrid thinks back over the last few months of her time in America with Caroline and her friends. The strange occurrences at the grill that day when the sky seemed to change before her eyes. "I think I can see time with this power," she questions more than states as she sits back and begins to focus.

"Ingrid," the younger witch calls to her but the voice is distant sounding. Her eyes are closed and she's placed her concentration on finding some piece of information. "Oh my god Ingrid!" Hope exclaims as the redhead collapses to the ground unconscious.

In the compound, Caroline and Klaus stand across from each other with a map in between the two - the image portraying a similar moment between them from decades ago. The hybrid stands watching as Caroline puts together the ingredients she needs to locate Kyros. He watches through hooded lashes keeping his gaze centered on her lips more so than her work. All Klaus can think of was the shared moments they had in the past 24 hours.

Their connection was real, it was there and she wasn't denying it any longer. He could sense her hesitation to step into something with him though. Luckily, Klaus Mikaelson was a patient man when it came to matters of Caroline and he was willing and ready to wait for her to welcome their relationship.

"Alright that should do it," she states looking at the map with red blood drops in all four corners. The room grows silent as the candles all light instantaneously and she begins chanting unfamiliar words to Klaus. More uncommon than the typical locator spell of witches. When she finishes they watch in astonishment as the blood moves across the map towards a location not far outside of the city. "I guess we just found Kyros."

"Let's gather the calvary love and go take down an evil warlock." He places his hand on the small of her back and guides the blonde out of the study they were in. Both halt in their steps when Kol comes rushing by shrugging on his jacket in a much quicker manner than necessary. "What's got you in a hurry little brother?"

"Hope just called me, Ingrid's in trouble." That's all he has to say before Caroline is leaving Klaus' side to follow the younger Mikaelson out of the compound. With a sigh the hybrid follows behind the two in hopes that his presence will keep them and his daughter from doing anything drastically stupid.

In the darkness, Ingrid opens her eyes to a crystal white space. All around her was white for endless miles. It appeared to be a room, but also not at the same time. She twirled around a few times feeling the marble floors beneath her boots and the pristine color around her. "You made it just in time young Fate. We've been expecting you." A voice sounds from behind her.

She jumps letting out a small yelp when she faces a black woman with beautiful long curls caramel brown eyes. Her smile welcomed Ingrid with much more warmth than her regal toned words, but something about her seemed so familiar yet not at the same time. "How do I know you? Wait where am I first?" Questions piled on top of each other as she stared at the area and the woman in front of her.

"My name is Atara, and I believe you already know the answer to your questions my dear. You just haven't looked deep enough inside to believe the answers yet." That same bright smile graces Atara's full lips as she turns and begins to walk away from Ingrid, beckoning the redhead to follow.

"This is the realm from the stories isn't it? The Fate's realm that was created after Kyros killed the original ones." She walks further to marvel at the throne-like room that materializes before her eyes. White columns appear taller than anything she's seen before, two fire pits made of stone sit at the front corners of the room, and a similar style bowl filled with water stands in the middle of the room. Bookcases line the walls around them filled with thousands of them. "Wow, this is beautiful."

Atara chuckles, "after two thousand years it becomes more mundane than awe inducing to us." She approaches the center bowl extending her hand for Ingrid to join her. "As I said, we were expecting you to come soon, but this does not mean we have plenty of time. You are very new to your gifts and this means the control is what you lack. I struggled with it at first as well, but it will pass."

Realization strikes Ingrid as she looks into familiar eyes and almost see's into Atara's soul. "You're me. I mean I'm you, or whatever since I don't entirely understand how all this works. But you're the original Fate of Knowledge."

"Yes little one, you are my counterpart as I am your predecessor. No this does not make us related in any way...that case only falls to Rhea and her doppelganger. You can learn of the others later, but for now you need to come with me understand some things about defeating Kyros." She places the palms of her hands into the water softly swishing them around muttering a chant unheard of to Ingrid.

In an instant Ingrid now stands beside Atara in a forest watching the scene before them. They watch as the five Fates in their first form stand at the gate of a portal with Kyros in front of them. "You will all pay for this!" He screams at them along with several other curses that mingled together. "I will escape someday and find my vengeance and when I do you will perish sharing the same fate you intended for me." His last words are more focused towards the blonde woman resembling Caroline, but Ingrid knew this was Rhea not her vampire friend.

"Kyros, I banish thee to an eternity in the Liminal. A purgatory build specially for you, to remain in the torture of prison for as long as time exists. My heart will seal you and bind you, and it will not be undone as I shall never leave my realm again after this day. My face will be the last you see, and my voice the first of many you hear in this hell." Rhea states as she holds a bloodied heart in her hand. The rest of the Fates shove Kyros with their powers into the portal as he disappears. Rhea chants as the heart in her hands glows and the portal imitates the glimmer before the doorway ceals and disappears.

The blonde takes the heart and quickly shoves it back into her own chest with a sharp inhalation in response. "It's done now, and the world is rid of his evil. Our job is done - now let us find peace together my friends." Rhea smiles taking past Atara's hand and squeezing it in a reassuring way.

Another blonde woman with pale almost white hair shakes her head frantically. "No we are not finished." She states bringing everyone's worry and attention to her.

"Celeste, we defeated Kyros and locked him away in a prison world for all eternity. There is no escape and we cannot remain on this plane with our bodies being deceased." A black man that somewhat reminded Ingrid of Vincent steps in voicing his opinion in attempt to calm Celeste.

"You do not understand, for none of you have seen what is to come. We cannot stop it - only prepare and equip." Everyone stares at her asking with their expressions for her to continue. "My visions have shown that through Rhea's line there will come a doppelganger several centuries from now. In a time where the supernatural have evolved into more than we know now. There will be a faction that wishes to kill her and because she is the mirror of Rhea, her heart will be used to free Kyros."

"Then we must end my line before this doppelganger can be born," are Rhea's words which shock the redhead watching from afar. This strong, powerful woman who'd been through so much in her young life was willing and ready to kill off her entire bloodline to keep Caroline from being born two thousand years later.

"No!" Celeste immediately exclaims in protest. "You doppelganger will bring about great change to the earth. She will calm the demon beast that otherwise would slaughter thousands. She will bring together factions of wolves, witches, and other creatures alike. So she must live on, but we can create someone that will be with her. Someone to fight at her side when Kyros returns so they can truly vanquish him."

"Not just someone, multiple someone's." Past Atara joins in looking around at the group before her. "We shall place a piece of our spirit in one person from Rhea's descendants generation and when the time comes that will be unlocked so they can fight Kyros together. They could be our messengers on this plane. Keeping the balance and peace between supernaturals long after we're forgotten."

"Reincarnates. With our powers, our abilities, but not our faces it's too dangerous for more than one to look like us. They shall be drawn together when the time is right to prepare for the battle against Kyros. And Rhea's descendant will be the one to lock him away for good."

Deep breaths she tells herself when Ingrid and Atara are pulled from the vision of the past. "So that's how the idea for...us came to you?"

"We have the gift of knowledge Ingrid, even if I hadn't of thought of it someone else would have and the gift in us would have recognized it as the ideal situation." Atara merely shrugs her shoulders, "when you return to your friends you must work hard to master your abilities Ingrid. If not you will be the weakest amongst the five."

She scoffs and crosses her arms taking a stance of defense against the woman who was supposed to be her counterpart in their abilities. Surely she would understand that Ingrid would never wish to be weak, "I'm not weak I can promise you that. I managed to survive this long on my own too. I can take care of myself just fine."

"Your fears and past hurts are holding you back from harnessing your full powers. There is so much more to you than knowledge and understanding. Astral projection for one is a great gift that will help your friends in the future, but not if you can't access it due to fear."

Once again Ingrid rolls her eyes, "you may have the gift of knowledge Atara but let me assure you that I'm not holding onto any past fears or whatever."

Tilting her head to the side she looks into the same brown eyes that belonged to herself, "then what does the name Daniel mean to you?" Atara watches as Ingrid's posture stiffens and her eyes dart around the room in search of an escape. "I can practically sense your heart pounding. Ingrid I do not say this to hurt you or to cause you harm, but Kyros will use your fears to get to you to incapacitate you. If he can find them he will go to whatever lengths necessary. Don't be afraid Ingrid. You have powerful friends and you are a strong young woman, nothing can hurt you unless you allow it to."

She nods with tears in her eyes as the bright light fills the room signalling that their time is up together. "Thank you Atara. For showing me this today, and for giving me a purpose in life."

"I think she's waking up," Hope's voice is the first that the redhead hears as she cracks open her eyes to quickly shut them from the bright light around her. She groans at the aching in the back of her head. Moving slightly to feel big strong hands cradling that same aching head.

"Kol?" She questions finally opening her caramel eyes to look up at the young Mikaelson with a dazzling smile. "What, how long was I out?"

"About an hour darling. Hope called as soon as you collapsed." Kol smiles at her with tight lips and proceeds to help her to her feet. "Are you alright Ingrid?"

Nodding slowly she winces at the sharp pain on the back of her skull and reaches her hand back there to rub the spot. "Yeah just a little funny feeling is all." She looks around the mausoleum to see Klaus and Caroline standing across the room. The hybrid doesn't look near as concerned as the blonde beside him, but then again she and Klaus weren't close enough to be concerned with each other. "I saw them Caroline. When I passed out, they took me to the Fates realm."

"Wait so you saw the Fates?" Hope questions with wide eyes wondering why they were now choosing to show themselves after being dormant for centuries.

"Yep, well I only talked to my counterpart Atara. She showed me this vision from the past of the five and it was crazy, but Caroline your ancestor looks so much like you it's creepy. Down to the way you talk I almost thought she was you for a moment."

Klaus decided to step in at that time to interrupt the conversation, "while I would love to hear more of your trip to spirit land we have an evil warlock to go after."

When everyone turns to the hybrid with a confused look Caroline chimes in, "oh yeah! I forgot you guys didn't know about this. I did a locator spell and found Kyros. So we're going to go rescue Brett and maybe take down Kyros if that's even possible."

"No!" Ingrid exclaims stopping the immortal pair from exiting the room. "We need to rescue Brett I agree with you. He's one of us obviously, but Kyros can't be killed. There's a certain way he has to be put away that the Fate's showed me and we're not ready to do that now."

Caroline slowly nods in understanding that she would have to talk to Ingrid later on about what all she saw in her little spirit trip. "Alright then, let's just go now so we can get Brett out of that hell. Kyros is not the most hospitable host."

"Tell me about it," Hope mutters under her breath as they all reach the SUV and climb in.

To everyone's surprise, getting Brett out was a lot easier than expected. Which of course put them all on edge by the time they were driving off from the secluded farm. Though he was still shaken up from the death of Freya, his own capture and torture experience, plus finding out about the supernatural world, the young man seemed to take it all in pretty well.

Now as the night was winding down, Hope sat wrapped in a blanket staring into the blazing fireplace sighing in the midst of her thoughts. "I know that sigh," her mom says from the doorway with two cups of hot chocolate in hand. "Spill it kiddo," Hayley crosses the room placing one of the warm mugs in her daughter's hand whilst tucking the bottom of the blanket around her feet.

"I don't know what the sigh was for exactly. Everything has just gotten so complicated lately. A few months ago Stefan and aunt Rebekah were about to get married, and things were normal...well as normal as they could get. Now we have these new people that are becoming like family to me, and some of them I really _really_ care about mom. I don't wanna lose anyone else." Hope holds onto her mug staring into the brown liquid with confusion and many other emotions in her eyes.

Hayley bites her lower lip, "when I feel that way about life I always used to go to Rebekah or Freya for advice. After a while I had Elijah to go to. I think you need to take this whole mess as a blessing in disguise. You may have been brought together to fight some evil that wants to kill you all, but I've never seen you have girl friends like Ingrid and Caroline. And don't try to hide the way you and Isaac look at each other; I've seen it and so has your father." The alpha mom leans in and places a hand on her daughter's knee, "no one is telling you to stop your life or to put happiness on hold. Take a risk Hope, you may just be surprised at the outcome."

"Thanks mom," Hope sets her mug down and slides across the couch to embrace her mom. She peers over Hayley's shoulder to see the wolf in question standing in the doorway.

"I think that is my cue to leave," standing to her feet Hayley exits the room. "Don't forget to drink your hot chocolate, and remember there are prying ears everywhere in this house young lady." The two share a laugh before the mother disappears around the corner leaving Isaac and Hope alone.

He stands awkwardly in the doorway scratching the back of his neck, "cute pj's." Hope pulls her blanket up further on her chest - not that her pajamas were revealing in any way, but in attempt to conceal the fluttering butterflies welling up within.

"Thanks," she responds with a light smile. The witch pats the open seat on the couch beside her and pulls her mug up to her lips taking in the delightful taste of hot chocolate.

Isaac points to the mug with smile, "my mom used to make me hot chocolate when I was a kid. We'd sit up late during the holidays and watch Christmas movies and talk about anything that a kid could think of."

"You miss her don't you," Hope states looking at the guy she'd grown over the last month and a half to feel so many different emotions for.

"All the time. There's so many things I wish I could talk to her about. Like this whole Fates thing, and being a wolf...and about you."

"What about me?" She peers up at him from her mug with curiosity in her green/blue eyes. Gently she sets the now half empty cup onto the table beside her and turns her attention to Isaac.

"Everything. You're so different from what I thought you'd be." He takes in her smirk before continuing, "like I had heard the stories through the pack about Hayley's tribrid daughter that was an untriggered wolf, a practicing witch, and had original vampire blood coursing through her veins."

"Well some legends about me say I'm a harbinger of evil, so at least those rumors in the pack are somewhat accurate."

"So real question, are you a vampire because of Klaus or how is that part of you?" Isaac leans forward slightly as he looks at the sparks coming into Hope's eyes.

"No I'm not a vampire, I have to die or be turned for that to happen. It's not really in my plans to be a vampire, but I do know that I have an increase on my werewolf abilities because of the whole original vampire dad thing." She looks down, taking a gentle sip of her hot chocolate. Hope's eyes dart up at the small laugh that comes from Isaac after she sets her cup down. "What?"

He shakes his head, "nothing it's just, you've got something." His finger points towards her upper lip, part of him wondering if he could reach out and wipe the milk mustache away for her and the other half too scared to dare. So he simply points and watches the young witch quickly wipe it away with the back of her sleeve.

"Better?" She questions looking at him with curious eyes. Eyes that he could honestly admit he would stare at for hours if he could. Just to examine every little spec and detail in them.

"Yeah you got it off, but it was kinda adorable so I was tempted to let you keep it." Isaac smirks and feigns pain when she reaches across to smack his arm lightly. "Milk mustache or not, you're still beautiful Hope Mikaelson." Their eyes connect at her sharp intake of breath, neither of them dare to speak, dare to move, even breathe heavily. Wanting to keep this moment for as long as possible. His eyes locking with hers, his eyes darting down to her lips as she nervously licks her bottom lip as the tension in the room thickens.

Hope slides forward on the couch towards Isaac and leans forward to where their breath mingles, their noses are inches apart, and he can see the battle within her eyes to run or stay. "What are you doing?" He questions looking down at her lips and back to her green eyes.

"Take a risk for once," she whispers before grasping the back of his head and pulling his lips to meet hers. It's like electricity sparks in the room, the fire seems to burn brighter, the heat kicking up a notch, their fingertips tingling at every gentle touch. Anything that could bring them closer together in that moment.

For a brief moment they part and breathe heavily, "I really need to get that sound-proofing spell done soon." Klaus states leaning against the wall glaring daggers at Isaac who glances between the girl in his arms and her father standing across the room. "Don't worry Isaac, you're in the safe zone until you hurt her. Then I will take great pleasure in skinning you alive and making a rug out of your wolf fur." He smirks and nods his head for the pair to follow him out.

"We will continue this later and uh yeah," Hope states as she jumps up and abandons her blanket, hot chocolate, and werewolf in the room.

Caroline sits in the kitchen talking with Hayley briefly when Klaus walks in, "what are you two talking about?" He questions noticing the hot chocolate and bottle of whiskey on the counter.

"Anything that won't stress us out too much with all the Kyros drama. How's Brett? Did he get settled in yet or is he still in shock?" Caroline asks turning to smile at Klaus with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Hayley then chimes in, "actually I told him earlier where Freya was buried at. I think he went there to clear his head for a little bit."

The blonde vampire slips off the stool and shrugs on her boots, "I'll go get him," she states attempting to slip past Klaus and exit the compound without any interference.

She groans at the sound of his footsteps following her out of the kitchen and towards the doors, "love slow down before you go darting off into the city." Klaus flashes in front of her halting her steps, but she flashes around him only to have her back meet a wall. His arms placed on either side of her head with a closed distance between them. "Be smart sweetheart, we just had to fight off attackers coming home from Israel. Imagine what could be waiting for you if you left on your own to wander the French Quarter."

"I can take care of myself Klaus, I've been doing it for a long time now. Brett is new to this, especially the supernatural thing. He has no clue who to trust, let alone who the enemy is. The poor guy wouldn't know what hit him until he was captured again!" Caroline scoffs and crosses her arms glaring up at Klaus with her puppy eyes that once could get her way with anything. "Please, just trust me. I can reach him, help him to understand all of this. I was once in his shoes decades ago when I was forced into the supernatural world."

Caroline reaches up and places her hands on Klaus' arms to move them down from their enclosed position against the wall. "Alright love, just please be careful." He sighs and places his smooth lips on her forehead gently before stepping back from the blonde. Before she leaves, Caroline slowly places her warm palms on his cheeks their eyes meeting as that familiar fire ignites yet again. She steps up on her tiptoes and softly kisses his lips.

When Klaus' eyes open a gust of air blows past him and Caroline Forbes is gone from his sight. All he can do now is pace the floors and pray that she makes it back to him. One thing is for sure, he hates feeling this waiting game now.

Just as promised, Caroline finds Brett standing in the cool evening air in front of Freya's grave. Fresh flowers had been placed in the setting beside her name recently, and she could assume that it was he who brought the beautiful yellow flowers. "I saw her that night...when she died. I could hear muffled voice from Freya and her niece in the cell next to mine. They kept coughing and I could just sense something wasn't right - but then again we'd also been kidnapped and trapped in cages." He shakes his head and turns back to see Caroline standing there, "why couldn't I save her?"

A nearby bench comes into view and the vampire motions for the grieving man to join her there. Several years ago, back when I was in college and young, I thought because I was nearly invincible that the people I cared about most were the same way. On the surface I knew that they were human and so fragile in that state, especially since we were all aware of the supernatural world. One day, I found out that my mom was dying of a rare form of cancer. What they don't tell you when you become a vampire is that you can't save everyone you love. So I watched my mom get sicker and sicker until she died, and there was nothing I could do to stop it." She shakes her head ridding the thoughts of her mother's ghost, "my point is that Freya knew what was going to happen when they were trapped in that cell. She knew to save her niece that she would have to die. It may be hard to understand right now, but she made her choice and now we have to learn to cope and move on with our lives without forgetting her memory."

"How? How do you move on with your life when there's so much out there that you don't even know about or understand. I was a normal guy before all of this, and I was almost falling for this amazing woman. Then boom the other shoe drops," Brett slaps his hands against his thighs and releases a heavy sigh.

"There is something you can do...to help that is if you're ready." Caroline peers down attempting to make eye contact with his dark eyes. His expression asks the question for her and so she continues, "the man that did this. His name is Kyros or known in legends as the Teacher. He escaped from his eternal prison world to find the reincarnates of the Fates that put him there 2,000 years ago. Those reincarnates would be Hope, Ingrid, Isaac, myself...and you."

"Me? Is that why he took me? I could never get a straight answer out of the guy when he would come by my cage. He would just stand in the shadows watching me for minutes and sometimes hours."

"Yeah...that's kinda a thing he does. We need to put him back, kill him even if that's possible; but we can't do that without you. There's a special kind of power when the 5 of us come together and we've not even begun to master or understand those powers. We need you Brett. If you won't do it for us, then do it to avenge Freya."

A long pause comes between them as Brett looks around the cemetery. The death that filled the city and seemed to all be concentrated in the Lafayette cemetery. His eyes lock on the name 'Freya Mikaelson,' her tombstone reading 'Always and Forever' on it. Caroline watches his jaw tighten and his facial features harden, "let's get started then."

 **IT'S FINALLY HERE! The real fun is about to begin when it comes to discovering more about the Fates, the Teacher, and their magical abilities. It took me WAY longer than anticipated to finish this chapter, but I had finals for nursing school recently and the stress of all that got in the way of writing. But I am determined to get a couple chapters done over holiday break.**

 **Anyways I hope you all haven't lost hope that I would update the story during my short (but long) absence. Please read, comment/review, and follow/favorite! We are getting closer and closer to the ending of this story (which honestly I'm kinda sad about), but do not worry. When this story comes to its conclusion there will be a sequel following closely behind! I've already started working up some ideas for the sequel because I knew when I finished this chapter that our time with the tale of the Teacher would be coming to a close sooner rather than later. I hope not to disappoint when all is said and done with this piece of the story.**

 **Please enjoy and have a great holiday and a Happy New Year! Maybe you'll hear from me again before 2019 ;)**

 **Always and Forever ~**


	17. Chapter 17

**Fate**

 **Chapter Seventeen - It Only Gets Stronger**

"Focus," he says in a calm voice from behind Caroline who has her eyes closed in concentration. "Let the energy flow through you, feel the atmosphere shift, the power within changing it. Now do it."

She takes a deep breath and settles her shoulders, "incendia." After a moment Caroline peeks one of her eyes open and then groans in frustration, "Vincent it's not working. We've tried everything to get one stinking thing to work. I can't even light the candles!" The blonde exclaims flopping back into the chair to resume pouting over her defeats.

"What I don't understand is how you did it before so effortlessly when you had just escaped from Kyros." The black man before her exudes confidence in his craft...if only Caroline could borrow some of that right about now.

"Maybe it had more to do with the position I was in that day. I had been forced for days to practice this one spell and perform it until it worked, and then when I had escaped I was on a power high from it all. Lighting a room of candles was as easy as breathing." Caroline shrugs her shoulders wanting to give up on the whole magic thing already, "besides Vincent we both know I'm not a witch. Is it possible that this just wasn't meant to be?"

Just then another voice sounds from the doorway, "you can't give up now. If the Fates said you have the ability to learn from Vincent then you can do it. Trust me magic never gets easy." Hope smiles at the blonde who she had come to see as part of their inner circle over the last few weeks. "Where's Ingrid by the way? Doesn't she have some type of magical power to be practicing too?"

Caroline chuckles and shakes her head, "yeah I think Kol took her out for a while to help her focus." The young Mikaelson groans and grasps one of the nearby throw pillows tightly to her chest.

"Can't he just not flirt with my friends or try to get in their pants? Is that so hard to ask," she lifts her hands upward questioning the ceiling before lookings to Caroline whose eyebrows are lifted in response to the comment.

"Does this mean you have a problem with me and your dad being whatever it is that we are? Also let's not forget about Brett and Freya's thing too, and I'm sure Kol has hit on plenty of your friends before. At least he's taking this one seriously...I hope."

The sound of Vincent clearing his throat brings them out of their conversation. "I know the status of everyone's relationships is such an important topic, but let's get back to why I'm here. You've got candles to light Caroline." He chuckles when the blonde groans and slips back into her concentrated position again.

In this moment, Caroline can recall a similar time in her life. Only this memory was from a little less than a decade ago when she first discovered the change in her vampire abilities, and her impeccable ability to survive anything.

 **Tel Aviv 2023**

A younger Caroline Forbes stands in the midst of the small, diverse, yet mighty rebellion that was preparing to strike Cyrus and his vampires that ruled the city of Tel Aviv. She had spent the last year flying back and forth from the city to her hometown, wondering if she wanted to set up roots here. Now that she stands with people like Ethan and the rest of the supernaturals that are ready and willing to die for the freedom of their people, she knows that this is the place.

"It's almost time, are you ready?" Ethan questions the blonde with a gentle hand on her shoulder. His eyes ask the question that his mouth doesn't, if she was sure that she wanted to join them. In their rebellion vampire ranks, Caroline was the youngest of them all, and by default that made her the weakest of them all.

A simple smile graces her lips accompanied with a small nod. Even she wasn't sure if she wanted this battle. Someone had to do it though, and if not many would suffer and die at the hands of Cyrus and the future vampires to come under his reign. Now that she stood outside the estate and stared at its historic walls surrounded by guards, the familiar adrenaline pumped through her system.

The blonde had to admit she missed this feeling of fighting evil ever since she'd left Mystic Falls behind and all the drama that came with it. She had spent so many years in the recent decade living the quiet, peaceful life that she had almost forgotten what it was like to fight for something she believed in.

Entering the estate seemed to be a lot easier than expected, and that was for a reason. Someone had tipped off Cyrus to their attack. Everyone in there was prepared for any form of assault...it was a beautiful manor that turned into a slaughterhouse in a matter of minutes. Witches were flung across the room hitting walls hard enough to break their spines. Werewolves had their hearts removed from their chests. The small faction of gypsys that had joined the fight, attempted to heal any surviving member of the rebellion. Anyone that didn't immediately flee the scene never made it out the doors again.

The vampires were the only group that seemed to be surviving better in the fight. Skill matched for skill with a majority of Cyrus' people being vampires as well. In the distance Caroline can hear Ethan calling for her to run with him. To retreat and leave the estate like many of the wounded and weak had done. Something in the blonde had awakened though, and maybe it was the adrenaline rush from the danger of it all, but she ignored his calls.

Her gaze focused on Cyrus who stood at his throne watching the scene. The fact that he hadn't touched a single person in the room only brought more anger to her. So many innocents had died tonight because his selfish ways of dictating the city. In that moment her vampire instincts that she'd worked so hard to suppress in her younger days, emerged and its soul target was to reach Cyrus and kill him.

Somehow Caroline managed to flash across the room, sneaking past the vampires that were battling the stronger and older ones. If by fate or by chance she ends up face to face with Cyrus, she would never know; but she knew she had to take this opportunity. The blonde quickly lands a blow to his face, then his groin, and uses his distraction to pick up a makeshift stake from the floor. It seemed too easy, and she knew that, but her inner beast didn't care. As Cyrus laid on the floor after taking multiple hits she leans down to plunge the stake into his chest.

In that moment it's as if the room stalls watching the bright, young, Caroline Forbes be impaled by a long wooden pole. Cyrus shoves the long pole through her chest and straight through her heart. The wood makes an appearance on the other side of her body, coming out of her back as blood drips out of her mouth and the wound in her chest. The last thing she feels as her body begins to grey is his boot kicking her body from the pole. The limp form of Caroline lay on the ground just like all the other casualties of this war.

That night many other vampires died that had chosen to stay and fight 'til the bitter end. Just like them, Caroline had been tossed into a mass grave dug in one of the empty fields near the edge of the city. Their bodies were to be buried and burned the following day. If someone were watching from a distance, they would have shivered in disgust. Bodies, at least 60 of them, all from different ethnic groups, backgrounds, and supernatural communities, were tossed into one big hole in the ground.

It must have been hours later when Caroline Forbes' eyes snapped wide open. The darkness was the first thing she saw, then she felt the limbs of other bodies piled all around her. She was buried under other bodies and dirt seeped in the spaces between the bodies. Slowly and frantically, she begins to push those bodies aside. Clawing at the dirt towards what she hoped was the surface. When she finally reached the top, her dirt and blood coated body emerging from the dirt and ashes beneath, vengeance was all she could see.

So that night as dawn was preparing to break, a blonde ghost with fury in her eyes, smoke following her steps, and a hunger for blood, entered the estate of Cyrus. She climbed the steps, entering the beautiful home and she took out anyone that got her way. When she finally reached his 'throne room,' she kicked the doors open, and the sound of the heavy wooden doors hitting the walls brought everyone's attention to her single figure.

"I believe we have unfinished business," she said as the veins danced across her normal soft features. In that moment she saw true fear come to his face, and she relished in it. As the sun rose in the morning sky that day, Caroline Forbes took her first seat in the large chair Cyrus had called his throne. Her feet propped up on his greyed body, blood trickling down her arm where his heart had rested in her hand for a period of time.

When the remaining members of the rebellion stepped cautiously into the Estate later that day, they were astonished to see the dirtied blonde baby vampire that had died the night before. Some let her take the power of the city simply because she delivered the deadly blow to the tyrant king and freed their people, but others called her the queen of the city because she had done something unheard of. A vampire, barely a decade old in strength and years, manages to take down another vampire twice her age and she had been desecated in a grave just hours before that.

"Caroline are you even listening to a word I've said?" Vincent states as he glares at her once more. She shakes her head clearing away the old and distant memories of a time she'd tried to forget. Just a few short months ago everything she'd worked for since the day she killed Cyrus had been destroyed.

The blonde sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, "can we just take a break Vincent. I've got a lot on my mind right now and there's no way I can do anything you're asking with a clouded mind. Hell I can't even do it with a clear head." She stands to her feet slowly looking disheveled slightly from the vivid recollection of memories she'd just visited.

"How about we take a walk instead. You can tell me all about what's in that head of yours and why you're so distracted that you can't even light a candle." The elder black witch exits the room expecting Caroline to follow behind him. Before anyone can notice the pair have left the compound, heading towards a quiet cafe in the Quarter.

Once the two had been seated at a small table outside the restaurant with their drinks ordered, they begin to just sit in silence. "Alright Caroline, you can either talk to me about what's going on and we can figure out why it's causing you to experience blocks in your power... _or_ we can just surrender now to Kyros and all forget the five of you never existed."

"Don't put this on me Vincent. I can't carry the weight of the whole group, I'm not some great hero or whatever you're trying to make me out to be. I was never that girl growing up, and even after I turned I still wasn't the one." She runs her fingers through her hair, slowly shaking away the tangles in the ends of her hair.

The witch slowly reaches across the table to take her hands in his own, "that's just it though. There are five of you - each carrying these unique abilities. You may not want to admit it or believe it, but they need you. In my years of knowing the Mikaelson family, and trust me that's been a long time, I have never seen them act in such a way as they are now. Things are changing around here and it's because of you."

"Maybe I don't want things to change. When all this is over what's left then? Five heros with no one else to save, nothing to keep us together, and I've lost _everything_ for this. Everything I built, all that I worked for, the family I made over almost a decade is just gone now. When Kyros is defeated that's what I am left with - nothing." The blonde pauses, closing her eyes to push back the emotion that had welled in her eyes. "As a result my existence is one of solitude, when you put something like this on me there's no going back after the fact. In the end, I am going to be left infinitely and utterly alone." She allows one lone tear to roll down her cheek before wiping away any others.

Vincent sits back eyeing the complex woman sitting across from him. Over the past few weeks of knowing the blonde vampire he still didn't know what to entirely think of her. On one end she's still a vampire and a friend of the Mikaelson's on top of that, but on the other end she's this extraordinary being that behaves with such humanity that he can almost relate to her on a deep level. "Come with me." He gives her no choice or chance to question as he puts down the money to pay for their drinks and proceeds to drag the blonde away.

She felt the wind blowing around her, the rustle of the leaves filled her ears, and in the distance she felt the consistent beating of her heart like a drum. Ingrid sat cross legged on a flat rock near the bayou whilst Kol wandered around to make sure she wasn't disturbed. In her closed eye meditation she could almost feel Kol's presence off in the distance.

The redhead takes a deep breath and recalls the times where she'd seen flashes of changing skies above her. In a flash she's gone from the isolated boulder and standing near a group of people sitting around of fire. They were all laughing, playing music, enjoying each other like family...a pack. Her eyes spot someone familiar close by as she turns her head to the side to see Elijah standing in the trees watching the bonfire scene.

Ingrid watches as the elder Mikaelson speaks gently with a stranger that had walked up next to him. The woman who was called Eve had invited him to join the group at the bonfire, to which the gentleman politely declined and insisted all he wished was for Hayley to be happy. Their conversation ended just after that and Ingrid's attention shifted to the fire where she saw none other than Hayley sitting on a log beside a man as they laughed and joked. Her swollen belly indicated this was definitely not an 'in the present' thing, but for a brief moment the redhead watched the scene wondering if her own mother felt the same about giving birth some twenty years ago.

"Ingrid, wake up, love I know you can hear me somewhere in your mind." Kol's voice draws her back to awareness as she blinks slowly and finds herself back on the boulder where she had been just moments before. "Where the hell have you been!" The original exclaims as he examines her face with worry in his eyes.

Confusion fills her, "I've been right here...at least I think I have. My mind went somewhere else, I think it had to do with where we're at in the bayou. I saw this memory or something of Elijah and Hayley from like 18 or 19 years ago. It was crazy, like it felt like I was watching a movie but it was real." Her eyes were wide with curiosity and wonder, hoping she could pull that off again soon and this time have more control over what she sees or where she goes.

"You've been unconscious for more than half an hour," that's all the original needs to say to spark more confusion in Ingrid. "Now would you mind explaining to me what the bloody hell you're babbling on about darling?" Kol's eyes and words take on a tone that seem protective and worrisome, but also slightly annoyed.

The redhead's lips tighten into a thin line as she stares at the man in front of her. "I take it you're frustrated. Or is this just your natural personality now and I haven't noticed it?" One of her brows raises slightly above the other as she stares him down with mixed emotions. On one hand she's just as annoyed as he is at Kol's behavior, but on the other she's never really had someone care about her the way he is in this very moment.

He runs his fingers through his hair and proceeds to step back from her. His hands slap against his jeans in frustration which Ingrid seems to believe is a habit he's picked up over the last several decades. "Yes I am frustrated little red, because you just collapsed for the longest time and there was no waking you from that. I couldn't do anything and your heartbeat was so slow and quiet that I had to strain to hear it. This is a magic I don't even understand myself and I have been around for a very long time love. I don't like not knowing what's next, especially when it comes to you." He takes two slow but brave steps towards her, cupping her face with his hands as their brown eyes meet with an intensity that both shocked and scared Ingrid.

Kol smiles slightly as he hears her heart rate pick up from the nearness of them. "There's that heart I love to hear," he smiles before daring to place his lips gently on hers. It was a new experience for the Mikaelson too, he'd never in 1,000 years been this way with a woman, let alone really felt for someone outside of family. Now here stood before him a woman that made him feel alive for the first time in a very long time.

 **Tel Aviv 2026**

Caroline sat at her desk in her private office of the Estate combing through the many documents that pertained to the city that she somehow had become the queen of. Over the last three years things had been turned upside-down in the supernatural district of Tel Aviv, and that was for the better of everyone. The communities were at peace, business was thriving, tourism was up which meant food for the vampires, and the witches along with a few gypsies found work in the streets doing random touristy things.

If anyone asked the blonde vampire, she would reply that all was well and things couldn't be going better. Except for the fact that now with this power came enemies, and people who didn't necessarily like her leadership decisions. Vampires that were older and more experienced than her, and occasionally they came to challenge her for that position she fought for. This life had indeed become a lonely one to live with, but she wouldn't trade it for a single miss Mystic Falls pageant. Here she felt as though she was in her true calling; ruling, leading, teaching, and helping others. Not organizing for beauty queens of a small town that would have seen her dead if she stayed.

A soft knock comes to the door that interrupts her reminiscent thoughts, "come in." She states quickly shuffling the important documents to the bottom of her stack of papers. Ethan quickly and quietly enters the office with a small smile on his face. "What do you have for me in your hand?"

"You know the tradition, every year like clockwork just after your birthday I pick up the letters from your old mailbox in France. Then you take the mail and put it in a box somewhere and never open it. You know the letters you get from none other than the handsome original vampire that is practically in love with you." The vampire says in a nonchalant manner that causes Caroline to roll her eyes.

"Just give me the damn letter then so I can safely put it away to never be read." She takes the sealed envelope from Ethan and looks it over briefly. Taking in the gentle scrawl of Klaus' writing and how it reminds her of his artwork in a way. Each curve of his lettering is careful and thoughtfully placed on the envelope like he put much thought into how it would appear to her. "Can you - uh - give me a little bit Ethan? Keep anyone from coming in this part of the Estate for about an hour. Thanks."

He doesn't respond as the blonde that was standing so put together and well dressed before him sits slowly in her desk chair. Her eyes are only focused on the envelope in her hands though, and only once the door clicks shut does she sag her shoulders and let any real emotion surface. For the first time in the years since the letters started arriving, is she truly tempted to crack the seal and read the words on the pages.

In her time since leaving Mystic Falls behind, Caroline hadn't given much thought to the Mikaelsons. In fact she liked to avoid anything related to them, and if she didn't she would be plagued with Klaus thoughts for the next several weeks. With a gentle sigh she flips the letter over and traces the wax seal on the back that has the famous 'M' stamped into it. "Just one peak won't kill you Care. He doesn't need to know that I opened the letter, and he doesn't need to stay in your head after reading one of these stupid letters. It's not like he can track you with a locator spell to confess his feelings or whatever." She shakes her head and then runs her fingers through its tangled ends.

Then in a moment of weakness as she would have dubbed it, the blonde breaks the seal open. Out of all the letters she had received and probably will still get, this will be the only one she reads. This was her vow to herself as she slowly peels open the envelope and takes the neatly folded pages out.

 _Caroline,_

 _I hope this letter finds you, as I also hope it finds you alive. It's been almost 15 years since we have last seen or spoken and I still remember the way your voice rings in my ears. My daughter is now nearing the young teenage years and in some ways she reminds me of you with her resilience, and then I continue to hear your words from the time you were dying in the Gilbert living room. You had said that anyone capable of love was capable of being saved...I never really believed you until I started watching Hope grow._

 _Anyways this letter was not meant to be about my life or my daughters. This is intended to be your birthday letter, as you have reached 33 years on this earth. Though it may seem small to many I know this is an accomplishment in your eyes love. I'm sure you would have done something spectacular if you had remained in Mystic Falls to celebrate, but you are off somewhere in the world exploring._

 _I have no way of knowing it these words will reach you, or if you will even glance at them if they do. When my witch couldn't locate you I was worried, but I hope this just means you've grown smarter with age and cloaked your location. Please take care love, and don't do anything that would make me not fulfill my promises of last loves or showing you the world. Happy birthday Caroline, I hope you accept this small gift that has missed being worn. I can assure you it belonged to a princess almost as beautiful as you._

 _Yours,_

 _Niklaus Mikaelson_

As the blonde vampire folds the pages again she finds that Ethan had paired the envelope with a dark blue suede box. The lid pops open with ease as her eyes glance on a familiar bracelet that she hadn't seen since the night she tore it from her wrist in the Mikaelson mansion. "Of course he would regift this for another one of my birthday's."

Vincent and Caroline stroll through the Lafayette cemetery in silence. The once talkative witch simply guides the vampire and nods to anyone he passes in a polite manner. Finally she becomes discontent with the silence and sighs in a loud dramatic fashion. This results in a deep chuckle from the man as he stops in front of a handful of graves. "Why are we here Vincent? I doubt a cemetery of dead witches is going to provide answers to whatever questions you think I have."

"We are here because the legacies of these dead witches is exactly what you need to hear about. All you've mentioned is what you lost just to get here. The people that have died or that have left in some way or form. You've only talked about how when this battle is over that you'll be alone. Why do you think that the five of you will lack purpose after Kyros is gone? And what the hell makes you think that Klaus Mikaelson is just going to push you to the side when this is all over?" The elder witch speaks in volumes of wisdom that the blonde really didn't want to hear.

The truth was that Caroline wasn't afraid of being alone when they defeated Kyros. Her fear is why would she be left alone? "What do a bunch of dead witches have to do with this?"

Vincent shakes his head, "you're still not getting it." He paces back and forth briefly before turning back to Caroline with a clap of his hands. "Okay what did your mom used to say about when people died?"

"That we would all be reunited someday? Vincent seriously what does that have to do with me feeling alone after Kyros is defeated? It's not like I can die." She looks over to one of the tombs nearby muttering, "the Fates took that choice away from me too."

"Okay maybe you're right that was a terrible point and I have no idea how I was going to connect all this to make a good one. What I'm trying to say though is that in the process of losing all those people you've gained a group that is willing to fight for you, with you, and makes vows that last longer than most ever do." He sighs and leans against one of the stone tombs across from Caroline. "I may not always agree or get along with the Mikaelson family, but if you had to find people to never abandon you, you couldn't have picked a better group."

"I know that, but what about after Kyros is gone. I have to be the one to get rid of him...how do I destroy a monster without becoming one?"

Hours later at the compound, Klaus stands in the main portion teaching Hope some simple hand-to-hand combat tactics. When Caroline walks in from the kitchen area, the youngest Mikaelson manages to catch her father off guard effectively taking him down with ease. "Never let your guard down and don't get distracted. Learned those lessons from you dad." Hope states with a smile looking between the blonde vampire and her dad. "I'm just going to go find Ingrid, and you two can do whatever this is."

Up on the balcony, Hayley and Elijah stand observing the scene below. Watching as Hope retreats and leaves Caroline to the hybrid. The pair down below attempt to train in combat but only end up reminiscing on old memories and laughing as one or the other stumbles or recalls something funny from their shared lives. "Do you think that the universe - or the Fates I guess - brings people together? Fights for these two souls to meet and fall in love. I mean look at them," Hayley states gesturing to Klaus and Caroline down on the ground. The two remain oblivious to the conversation beginning on the balcony overlooking their training ground. "It's like they were destined for each other. Klaus was born over a thousand years ago, and he just happened to be one of the first immortal creatures to exist? Then on top of that he survived for over a millenia on this earth and met Caroline in a small town after she had been turned into a vampire. It's just too much to be a coincidence."

Elijah watches her face as she pauses her words to look down at the couple once again. The suit wearing Mikaelson gently places a hand to Hayley's cheek to bring her eyes to meet his. "I've never seen him like this with anyone really, not even with Hope. There have always been walls Niklaus built to keep people at a distance in some way." He pauses once to gather his thoughts before looking at the beautiful woman that stood in front of his gaze. "There is an old Chinese proverb about an invisible thread that connects two souls together in destiny. Through time, tangles, circumstances, and more the thread refuses to break. I believe this is true for Caroline and Niklaus, and it appears their connection will only grow stronger as time passes."

 ***Hides behind anythings in shame from taking so long to update...again.* Well hi ya'll I'm back once again with another chapter update. I had seriously hoped that I could finish this sooner, but of course my motivation to write disappeared along with any form of a sleeping schedule over of the holidays. Apparently now that my classes have started back, my inspiration to write returned as well - which is great since I really should be studying more and focusing on school instead of staying up until 1am just to finish this chapter.**

 **Anywho, this chapter is DONE and we are one chapter closer to (don't say it) the end of this story called Fate. I'm honestly very excited to start working up the next part of this groups journey in the sequel and I hope you all are ready for another section to their story. I'm trying my best to keep things interesting each chapter as well as developing the characters in a way that makes sense to the story and the way it flows. I do promise in the next chapter or two there will be some MAJOR Klaroline especially since we're coming to a place in the story where our heroes will discover how-to and have to embark on the path to defeating Kyros (thank God because that dude gives me the creeps.)**

 **Please ignore my side comments above as my sleep deprived brain does not know what she's talking about. Also please review, favorite, and follow! I noticed the last time I posted I didn't get nearly as much response as I had been previously and I'm hoping it was due to the holidays and my delayed posting.**

 **Stay sane my friends, Always and forever**


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